In Brightest Shadow
by cobalt-blue
Summary: Conclusion and epilog. Inspired by convesations with several people on this board- You KNOW who you are! There will be retribution.*weg*
1. Default Chapter

Author's Note: This was inspired by conversations with several people on this board. The guilty parties know who they are and should at this time come down and be fitted for their new dinner jackets- all white with arms that tie in the back. Thanks for everything, GIRJ, DB, RK, and all the rest.  
  
Tommy Oliver put his cup down, gave his friends a lopsided grin, and he realized that he more than just a little drunk. Normally, he didn't imbibe in alcohol- for two reasons mainly, the first being that he didn't like being out of control of himself, and the second was that being of Native American descent he knew that that put him at a higher risk of alcoholism- but tonight was just a little different. He and the guys were celebrating- no not celebrating that wasn't right- they were marking a full year since his break-up with Kat. Somehow, each had realized that this was an important marker in Tommy's life and each had made it a point to stop by.  
  
Looking around he realized just how good of friends, he really had. All the male Mighty Morphin' and Zeo Rangers were here with him. All but two that is. Justin was too young, and really didn't understand what this day was all about. The other, well he isn't even on the damn planet. Tommy fought back the hurt that thought brought. Jason had moved back to Angel Grove after finishing the Police Academy and was now a cop on the Angel Grove PD. Last he heard, he and Emily were dating. Rocky and Adam had opened the Black Ape Dojo down at the youth center, and were doing a pretty good business from what he could tell. It also helped that both men had picked up some extra work in Hollywood as stunt doubles and every now and again bit parts in movies. Adam and Kim had become something of an item when she returned last year from Florida. Zack had flown all the way in from Germany where he now worked as and attaché to the American Embassy. It seemed his experience at the Youth Peace Conference had really paid off for the former Black Ranger. He said that he was on vacation, but Tommy got the feeling that maybe he'd pulled in a few favors to time his vacation so perfectly.  
  
Jase held up his glass, and from the look in his eyes, Tommy could tell that he wasn't the only person in the room on the shy side of sober. He smiled, looked around the room, and said, "To absent friends."  
  
"Absent friends," Tommy smiled, as he realized just how much he missed some of those friends. Aiesha, now in Africa was out of touch most of the time, and Tommy found himself wondering fairly often how her quest to save the animals was coming. Trini's absence left a hole in his heart that he wasn't sure ever would be filled again. Looking down at the drink in his hand, he felt just a little guilty over remembering that she died when a drunk driver ran her car off the road. Then there was Billy.  
  
The young scientist had left for Aquitar what seemed like ages ago to heal from the effects of rapid aging. He'd sent word back that he'd found true love in the person of Delphina one of the scientists with which he'd worked and was staying on the Aquitar- a claim that for some reason always rang false to Tommy. He always felt that he'd somehow failed the Blue Ranger by not finding a cure on Earth for him. Looking around, he casually asked Jason, "Speaking of absent friends, has anyone heard from Billy lately?"  
  
Jason and Adam looked at each other guiltily, and then shook their heads, "uh. no."  
  
Tommy had been a liar long enough in his life to recognize one when he heard one, especially from two men unused to lying. He smiled inwardly and made a mental note to ask Jase what was up with it, before replying with a shrug, "Well, if by some miracle anyone does, tell him I said hello." That sounded neutral enough.  
  
"Will do," Rocky replied in his ever-cheerful manner. Tommy mentally wondered if the guy ever had a down day in his life. Finally, the tall Hispanic man turned and looked Tommy dead in they eye, and the former White Ranger got the distinct feeling that what followed wasn't as off handed as it sounded, "Now that it's been a year, does that mean we can stop walking on eggshells around you about Kat?"  
  
Tommy chuckled, "You'd better believe it. You guys didn't have to walk on eggshells anyway. Kat and I buried our hatchet a long time ago." It was the truth too. They'd discussed what wasn't there between them- what hadn't really been there with Kimberly too- and decided to go their separate ways amicably. Everybody else however, decided that it was some great tragedy that Tommy found love and lost it once again, and had treated the whole thing with a lot more drama than he was ever comfortable with. This party was a good example. He was happy just marking the day, not one of loss, but of freedom and the beginnings of self-exploration and going on. Adam with his keen sense of the romantic had quietly called all their friends together and arranged for each of them to stop by and cheer Tommy up. He wouldn't have been surprised to find out that the former Black Ranger had done the same for Kat too. Not that Tommy was the least bit sad. His regrets had nothing to do with Kat- or Kim for that matter- but lay in a completely different direction.  
  
Rocky gave him a big goofy grin, that was just a little vacant-eyed from one too many PBRs, "Good, because I was thinking of asking her out," looking over at Tommy, "with your permission of course."  
  
There was a quiet pause, as the other Rangers except Jase- something else Tommy would have to ask his Best Bro about- looked at Tommy awaiting some kind of outburst, and then back at Rocky unbelievingly. Tommy just smiled, as he realized where the tension from the rest of the room was coming, and replied, "Go for it man. I hope you can make her happier than I could." Then patting him on the shoulder, "And she can make you happier than she made me." Let them think about that for a while. After all, Tommy had spent a great deal of this last year on a journey of self-discovery.  
  
  
  
After that, the party settled down into reminiscing about old adventures with the Rangers. Jase settled back and watched his closest friend very carefully. The news he was carrying was difficult at best, and not something he was likely to broach casually with somebody like Tommy. There were some things you just didn't come out and tell a guy without some serious building up, and a whole lot of alcohol involved. This one was right up there near the top of the list.  
  
He sat back and listened to various tales of the different Ranger incarnations, and even shared a few stories himself. Most of all, he sat and brooded. He smiled when it was appropriate, and went through the polite motions of conventional conversation with this most unconventional gathering of friends, but his heart wasn't in it. What he was going to tell Tommy tonight could very easily end their friendship, and he wasn't sure was ready for that. It had to be done though.  
  
Jason lingered behind long after the other guests had left. He helped Tommy with the general clean-up around the house and waited for the right moment. Finally, deciding that there was no right moment for what he had to say, he just simply put an arm on Tommy's shoulder and said, "Tom, Bro, we need to talk." He pointed to the sofa and continued, "I've got something to tell you, and I'm not sure how well you're going to take it. Why don't we sit down."  
  
Tommy gave him a confused look, but sat across from him on the sofa, and said, "Go ahead, Bro. Shoot." 


	2. Empty light

Jason took a deep breath before beginning. Tommy could see his friend struggle with what he was going to say. He understood that because he'd spent a great deal of time during the last year sorting out his own emotions. He'd finally begun to see the edges of peace of mind, and that was only after some very long struggles with feelings he neither wanted nor understood. Jason was a lot like Tommy, he'd rather act than think, especially when it came to emotions. After a long silence, Jason began, "I guess this is about you, although not really." He smiled wryly, "I mean it concerns you, but isn't really about you, it's about." He stopped, not able to go on.  
  
"Spit it out Bro," Tommy smiled and told him, "I promise I'm not going to get mad."  
  
Jason just looked up with those dark midnight eyes and chuckled, "Don't count on it." He sighed, leaned back, and changed the subject, "By the way, I lied, earlier."  
  
"I know," Tommy replied. "Why?"  
  
"Because I'm not sure how you'd take the news that Billy was back on Earth."  
  
"He's back, that's great!" Tommy exclaimed excitedly, "How is he? When did he get back?" Then realizing exactly what Jase had said, he stopped short and asked more seriously, "Exactly why were you concerned about how I would take that?" He wondered if the other Rangers thought he was mad at Billy or something.  
  
"Because we knew that you took it pretty personally that we couldn't find a cure of Billy here." Jason gave him and inscrutable look before continuing, "Because, Bro, you have this tendency to take anything that goes wrong to be your fault. You're Mister Guilt Incarnate, and we didn't want to open any old wounds." He paused and took a deep breath and then said more softly, "And because Billy asked us not to."  
  
Tommy felt like Jase had punched him in the gut. Billy didn't want him to know that he was back on Earth. Why? Did he sense something that the others didn't? Did Billy hate him for it? He fought for control of his voice as he asked, "Why?" Jase stood up and walked to the fireplace. Taking a picture of the first Ranger team down from the mantelpiece, Jason paused for long moments as Tommy stared at his friend's broad back. Tommy could feel the conflict in Jason from across the room, and knew that something was tormenting him. He asked, he almost pleaded, "Jase, Bro, talk to me. Why didn't Billy want me to know he was back?"  
  
Jase finally turned and looked up from the picture, "Are you really that blind, Tommy?" He could see the hurt in Jason's eyes. "Do you really not know what Billy was going through at the end?"  
  
Tommy shook his head, "He was sick, I know that." Tommy protested. That had been a difficult time for him too. He was just starting to realize what those feelings he'd been struggling with were doing to him. He'd tried to lose himself in his relationship with Kat.  
  
Jason leaned back and crossed his arms, "That's not what I'm talking about. Do you have any idea what he was going through emotionally?" There was a hardness to Jase's voice that brought Tommy up short. "Do you have any idea what we were putting him through?" then more softly, "What he was putting himself through?"  
  
Tommy stopped and thought about what was going on with the Rangers when Billy had left. It wasn't long after the Command Center had been destroyed- they were all upset about that, and then Billy had started aging rapidly, and left for Aquitar. He'd never really sat down with the young genius to ask him about how he was coping. He didn't trust himself enough to do that.  
  
Jason sighed, "I don't know how to tell you this, Bro. I don't even know if I should tell you this, it's not my place to say, but it needs to be said." He locked eyes with Tommy before continuing, and Tommy felt his gut slowly twist into knots from the look on Jason's face, "Billy stayed on Aquitar to get away from you."  
  
Tommy was stunned. Did the Blue Ranger really hate him that much? Would he be willing to leave the planet so as to not breathe the same air as him? "But what about the girl, Delphine?"  
  
Jason corrected him, "Cestria, Delphine was the commander of the Aquitarian Rangers." He smiled, "But it's easy to get them confused."  
  
"What ever," Tommy replied- he didn't want to think about the Aquitarian then, or now. "What about her? Didn't he say that he'd finally met the "right person."  
  
Jason chuckled and shook his head, "I'm beginning to see what Adam meant. You really were so caught up in your own drama that you couldn't see what happening in front of you- not that you didn't have a right to be, but this was important." He walked over and put a hand on Tommy's shoulder, "Tom, Bill left because he couldn't stand to watch you with Kat any more."  
  
Tommy never knew that Billy had any feelings for the Pink Ranger. He'd always been so quiet, so unobtrusive. Not, that Tommy had been not paying attention to Billy- quite to the contrary; he just hadn't seen the attraction the Blue Ranger might have had to Kat. However, Jason was right about one thing, he had been so caught up with the turbulent emotions that were tearing him apart at that time, he'd never noticed anything out of the ordinary from Billy. Of course Billy's own inscrutable nature had made it difficult to read him anyway- and that was the crux of Tommy's dilemma. "Billy was in love with Kat?" Tommy asked.  
  
Jason shook his head, "No, he was or is in love with you." Jason had the look of a man who was awaiting his doom as he continued, "Billy's not the kind of person to push things, and he doesn't think he has a chance with you." He paused and shrugged, "Me? I'm not so sure." Tommy sat down in shock. How could he have missed this? How could he have been so blind? Jason put a hand on his shoulder and asked cautiously, "Am I wrong?" 


	3. Things said just shy of sober

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Jason watched Tommy carefully. Telling one of your best friends that another of your friends, another man, loved him was not the kind of thing one did lightly, or easily- especially when that friend was a sixth dan black belt. "Look, I'm breaking a trust telling you this. Bill asked me not to say anything, to let it pass, but I can't sit and watch two of my closest friends, two men I love like brothers, tear themselves apart over something that neither can control." He stopped and sighed, "Am I wrong Tommy? Does he have a chance? Because if he doesn't I'll forget this conversation ever happened."  
  
Tommy looked up at him, and he could see the surprise in his friend's eyes. Jason suspected that what the others were calling Tommy's moodiness over the past year wasn't so much that, as it was some kind of attempt to understand a conflict inside the former Ranger leader. He'd made it a point to just be there for his friend, not push, just let him come to his own conclusions, but after what Bill told him earlier today he realized it was time to act, before the Blue Ranger did something foolish. Finally, Tommy said in a low voice, "What if you're not?"  
  
Jason wasn't surprised by the question, he knew that Tommy tended to brood on important questions, to think them out carefully, and even internalize them more than he should. That was what made him such a great leader for the Power Rangers, better than even he had been. He cared about his team, and his friends. That was what was making this final step so hard. He answered, "What do you mean; what if you're not? What are you worried about Tom Oliver?"  
  
Tommy leaned back against the sofa and sighed himself, "I mean what would that do us Bro?" Oh God, please tell me that Tom's not in love with me! I don't think I could stand doing that to Bill- not take the Gold Powers from him and then take Tommy too. Jason had is own issues of guilt to reconcile about Billy's leaving the planet- about the way things turned out when Billy gave Tanya the Yellow Zeo crystal instead of taking it himself.  
  
"What do you mean; us, Bro?" he asked carefully.  
  
"I mean our friendship, Jase," the pleading look he gave Jason sent shivers down his spine. "How would you feel to find out that. . ., that your best friend had the hots for other guys?"  
  
Jason gave a sigh of relief, "Are you asking me if I wouldn't be your friend anymore, if it would cause me to treat you any different?" Tommy only nodded. So, that was what this was about. Tommy didn't want to lose his friends, "I'll tell you this much, if you do have the same feelings for Bill as he does for you, and you don't do something about it- and I find out about it, then that'll cause more problems between us than anything the two of you might develop ever would. That would be cruel, cruel to yourself, and cruel to Billy, and I don't think you're a cruel person, Tommy."  
  
"Huh?" Tommy asked.  
  
Jason leaned forward and put a hand out to his friend. He put it as simply and direct as he could. "The only way it would change things between you and me, is that I'd start asking you both to dinner than just one at a time." He shook his head, "Do you think that knowing Bill is gay has made a difference between us all these years?"  
  
That surprised Tommy. He leaned back and considered Jason's answer. Jase had known Bill was gay for a long time. "How long?"  
  
"How long what?" Jase asked, "How long have I known Bill is gay? How long I've known that he's been quietly carrying a torch for you, or how long have I suspected that you might feel the same way?"  
  
This was a lot for Tommy to digest. His past year of self- examination was suddenly coming to a head. Understanding the feelings that were tearing him apart had been a long journey. Now finding out that he didn't have to go through this alone, and that his best friend had known was more than a little sobering- and in his current condition that in itself was a feat. "All three."  
  
Tommy watched as Jason smiled and he realized just how close he and the first Red Ranger had become over the years. He was glad that he had a friend he could talk with like this, who would listen without being judgmental. He mentally kicked himself for not talking to Jason earlier. Jason told him, "I've known Bill was gay since we just after it became evident that you and Kim were going to be an item." Jase made little quotation marks with his fingers at the last word. "He got really moody, and snappy. I've known him since we were eight, and he doesn't get that way except when it comes to his feelings. Finally, I sat him down and we talked. Actually, once he got started it all just spilled out of him. He was afraid I was going to throw him over for you as a friend. He was afraid that you'd beat him up if you found out. And he was afraid that Kim would hate him." Jase smiled at him, "You see, even though Billy was a mental giant, he was still very much a little boy emotionally. He tended to bottle things up until they exploded out of him. It was one of those times. I promised never to say anything to you- a promise I'm breaking now, mind you- and I made it clear that he wouldn't lose my friendship over it."  
  
Tommy thought about what Jason was saying, "Why did he think I would beat him up?" God, he'd never had hit Billy to save his life. He'd rather cut off his own arm first.  
  
"Think about it Tom, most of us didn't know you very well back then. You were still the mysterious and very brooding Green Ranger- a real tough guy. That was just a little scary to him." Jase laughed, "And I guess it had its charm too, because he had it pretty bad for you too."  
  
"I. . . , I never knew," Tommy replied. He realized that he'd been so caught up in his own emotional turmoil, that he'd never realized that the very person he couldn't get out of his system was going through the same thing. He was so busy hiding behind the tough-guy, 'I don't care' persona that he totally missed out on Billy's own fight for understanding. "And how long have you thought that. . .?"  
  
Jason smiled at him, "Only the past year or so, I guess." He leaned back, "Kat, Kim, and I had a long talk one night, not long after you guys broke up. You know those two really have turned out to be good friends. Not something I really expected. Most women who've dated the same guy tend not to be that close, and almost never do they stay friends with the guy. I guess what we've all been through lets us break some of the rules." Jason was right about the girls. They had every reason in the world to hate each other with the proverbial pink passion, but they didn't. Instead, they were very close friends, and had drawn even closer after Trini's death. Jason continued, "Anyway, we got to talking, about being Rangers, about our friends, and about you. They kept saying the same thing about you. How, although you'd always been attentive, your heart just never seemed to be in the relationship- as if you were looking for something that they couldn't give. It reminded me of what Billy had said about his few attempts of dating girls."  
  
"And that made you think I might be gay?" Tommy asked, hoping he didn't sound too brusque.  
  
Jase smiled at him, "Well, are you?" Jason wasn't going to let him off the hook.  
  
Tommy sighed and leaned back. If he was going to tell this, then by the Power he was going to tell it all. He took a deep breath and began, "You know I grew up in a series of foster homes before Mom and Dad adopted me?" He didn't wait for Jason to answer. Tommy had long past stopped referring to his adoptive parents as the Olivers. That in itself had been a major turning point in his life. A point when he'd began to slow down in running away from the things that he was. "Well, let's just say I wasn't the easiest kid to raise. To put it simply, before I came to Mom and Dad, I was a trouble-maker, a bully, and on the fast track to prison. You know; Go directly to Jail, do not pass Go, do not collect two hundred dollars. Mom and Dad did a lot to turn that around. It took them a while and a whole lot of tough love, but they managed to at least to get me to stop running from myself."  
  
Tommy sighed, remembering those early days when he was so afraid of being hurt again, of being abandoned and turned back over to Family Services that he lashed out at anything that tried to get close to him. "I decided that I was going to hurt the world before it hurt me. My parents had been more than patient with me. Hell, Dad had even taken a job out of LA to get me into a quieter neighborhood. It worked too, I guess." Tommy couldn't argue that Angel Grove hadn't been good for him. "Well, about the time I started getting my act to together, the whole thing with Rita started. When that was over, I felt so horrible, like every bad thing I ever believed about myself was true. Then you guys rescued me." He stopped and looked at Jason swallowing the hard lump in his throat. These memories were some of his hardest to relive, some of the hardest for him put into words, but for some reason he felt he needed to explain himself to Jase. "If it hadn't been for you, Billy, Kim, and the rest, I don't think I would have made it. Between you guys and my parents, I started to realize that I didn't have to hurt other people to protect myself."  
  
"Man, we knew you belonged with us. We could feel it from the start, and we weren't about to let Rita have you." Jason replied simply and from the depths of his heart.  
  
"I know, it just took me a while to figure that out," Tommy told him as he reached deep down in himself and dug out what he'd been feeling then. He'd never tried to put it into words before, but now knew it was time to do it. "The problem was, that once I stopped running from myself, trying to protect myself from being hurt, I started having these other feelings. I'd seen what happened to guys other people thought were gay. I wasn't about to have that happened to me. I mean, I was the Green Ranger for God's sake!" Tommy blushed as he realized how that sounded. "That was just a little conceited wasn't it."  
  
Jason laughed, "Just a little."  
  
Tommy chuckled, "Well, I figured that if I could just BE with a girl, it would change things. That what I was feeling was just frustration, and general teenage horniness." Tommy blushed deeply with shame as he admitted, "Then Kimberly came along." He could see the hackles on the back of Jason's neck rise.  
  
"Bro, that ain't right." Jase told him evenly.  
  
Tommy nodded, "I know, I know, and you have no idea how sorry I am about it."  
  
"Does Kim know?"  
  
Tommy shook his head, "There's no real need for her to. Nothing ever happened between her and me. Nothing serious I mean." He sighed, "But Kat, . . .," he let the words hang.  
  
"Tom!" Jase protested.  
  
"I thought I loved her, Jase. I really did," Tommy explained. "I thought that if I just loved her enough that what I was feeling about Billy would go away. That it would just become like what you and I have." He shook his head, tears rolling down his face. It was hard to admit that he'd used Kat like that, that he'd used himself, but he realized it had to be done. If his healing was going to be complete, if his honesty with himself and the universe was going to be real then he had to admit that he'd used his friend that way. "Then Bill got sick, and HE went away. But the feelings didn't." Tommy looked up at his oldest friend, unable to read what he saw in those deep midnight eyes. "Just before we broke up, Kat and I talked about it, talked about everything. She was hurt, but she was willing to forgive me." He sighed, "But only if I took some time off, at least a year to come to grips with myself."  
  
Jason leaned back, the tension gone from his body. His voice still had a controlled evenness to it that hurt Tommy just a little, "So that's what this whole year of self exploration has been about?" Tommy nodded, and they sat there for long minutes in silence. Finally, Jason said, "What are you going to do now?"  
  
Tommy wondered what his friend was talking about, "What do you mean?"  
  
"I mean what have you learned from this year of contemplation? Are you gay? Do still feel that way about Billy?" He leaned forward and there was a seriousness to his voice that chilled Tommy's blood, "Because I'll tell you this much Tom. You've gone through two Pink Rangers, two of my friends. You may be my best bud, my Bro, but if you decide to pursue things with Billy, I want you to be damn sure this isn't just another phase. If you and Bill are meant to be together, I'll dance for joy at your wedding, or your commitment ceremony or what ever you decide to do. But, if this is just another part of your explorations, and you hurt him, I'll beat you to death with a shovel."  
  
Tommy was shocked at the intensity in Jason's voice. He wasn't sure just how much of what he was saying was hyperbole, and about how much he was serious. He knew one thing was certain, and said so, "I want to talk to Billy about it. I want to see if he really feels the same way I do." He sighed, "and to apologize for hurting him."  
  
Jason leaned back in his chair and smiled. "That's fair enough. But I'm going to warn you about something."  
  
"I know, I know, don't hurt him. I think I've done enough of that," Tommy told him.  
  
Jason chuckled, "That's not what I mean. We already covered that ground. What I mean is Billy isn't the same man that left here four years ago." He shook his head, "Almost dying has done something to him, changed his outlook on life a bit, no a lot. Recovering cost him even more. Don't expect the shy boy who left for Aquitar. Don't get me wrong, he's still quiet, but it's quiet strength now, not a quiet shyness."  
  
"Aquitar changed him that much?" Tommy asked.  
  
Jason shook his head, "Not Aquitar, Phaedos."  
  
"I thought he went to Aquitar to heal," Tommy protested.  
  
"He did," Jason told him. "But it didn't work. Two months after his transmission saying good-bye, he started aging again. Finally he went to Phaedos, to the Healing Lands to recover." Jason smiled, "He's spent the past three and a half years studying the Ninjetti ruins there, and training with Dulcea."  
  
"Training with Dulcea? Why training with Dulcea?" Tommy asked confused. Phaedos was not a safe place for someone who was sick. He remembered Dulcea's words about those who'd come to Phaedos to get the Great Power. .the grounds are littered with the bones of those who have tried for it and failed.  
  
"He had to reconnect with his Ninjetti Spirit Animal to be able to access the Healing Lands. Part of the reconnection included some rather intense training. As he put it, he spent his mornings meditating in the Healing Lands, his afternoons studying the Ninjetti ruins, and his evenings having Dulcea beat him until he could beat back," Jason told him. "It's made him a very different man. He's much more in control of himself, and there is power there that wasn't in him before." Jason chuckled, "I sparred with him a couple of days ago, and he wiped up the dojo with me." He sighed "I'm just saying, don't expect him to be the same guy you knew four years ago."  
  
That made Tommy wonder, "If he's more sure of himself, why is he afraid to face me? Why didn't he come here tonight?"  
  
Tommy watched as Jason considered his questions, "I think that you should ask him that yourself." He took a deep breath and continued, "But think of it this way. If you were in love with someone, and they were marking a year of being single, how would it make you feel to attend a day marking that year?"  
  
Tommy realized what Jason was trying to tell him. Billy didn't want to seem like a vulture waiting something to die. "I see what you mean." He thought for a few seconds and asked, "Could you, would you set it up for us to meet, to talk?"  
  
Jason smiled and answered, "Would tomorrow night be okay with you- my house, eight o'clock for dinner? It's sort of a Ranger reunion for Billy. So far the only people who know he's back are me, you and Adam. Since Zack is in town, I thought it might be a good chance for us all to get together, and catch up with old times. Everybody will be there." Tommy noticed that Jason didn't add "those still alive at least."  
  
Tommy smiled, "I'll be there." 


	4. It's a Date!

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As usual, Tommy was late. Even a year of self-examination and meditation had not been able to wipe that particular habit from his personality. Some things would just never change. Walking up the drive to Jason's house, he wiped his palms on his jeans realizing that he was sweating like a bridegroom on his wedding night. Now, where in the hell did that come from?  
  
As was his habit, he knocked once on the door and stuck his head in- he and Jase had long since stopped waiting for the door to be answered at each other's homes. Entering, he heard the sounds of several conversations coming from the den.  
  
Making his way down the short hall, Tommy entered the den to see the rest of the Rangers sitting around talking. It looked like everybody was already here. Although the person he most longed to see wasn't visible, he could hear his voice saying, "It's been tough, but it's almost over."  
  
"What's been tough, Bro?" he asked from the door trying to sound his usual neutral self.  
  
"Tommy?!" was there something deeper than the genuine pleasure of hearing an old friend that Tommy detected in Billy's tone? According to Jase there was. Tommy watched as the tall blond stood up from the high- backed chair where he was sitting. Jase had been right; Billy had changed a great deal over the past few years. For one thing, he was leaner now, the bones of his jaw and cheeks much more evident than before- it gave him something of wolfish look. Secondly, there was a grace to his movements that more befit the Blue Ranger than ever Billy Cranston- the proverbial klutz. Finally, and probably the most outstanding was his hair. Gone was the unkempt look he had when they first met, and even the well-groomed and styled cut that Kimberly had convinced him to get later. Now his blond hair was longish- just a little past his shoulders and pulled back into a simple ponytail. Tommy noted with some irony that while he'd cleaned up his look- "got his haircut regulation" as someone once commented, Billy had let his grow out. Tommy guessed there weren't many barbers on Phaedos.  
  
Tommy was surprised when Billy strode across the room to greet him. At first, he thought Billy was going to pull him into a hug, but then he seemed to stop short, his old shyness reasserting itself, and offered a hand to shake. Tommy was having none of that, he took the hand and swept Billy into a great bear hug. "I won't settle for just a handshake from my Little Bro," he laughed and pounded Billy on the back. From across the room, he saw Adam give him a thumbs-up, and wondered just how many people knew what was really going on now. He suddenly realized that that Billy was hugging him back with a fierceness and power he didn't expect the other man to have. He was somewhat taken aback by the strength of that embrace and felt as if he was wrapped in something stronger than just Billy's arms. "Billy, I may need those ribs," he whispered into the blond man's ear, and was suddenly caught up in the scent of him.  
  
It was a layer of odors- all of them pleasant, and each one having a different effect on him. On top was the general odor of a popular men's cologne/deodorant. It was pleasant and even stimulating with just a hint of vanilla. Under that was the fresh scent of a deodorant soap that Tommy himself used occasionally- Irish something or other. It reminded Tommy of the deep forest after a gentle summer rain- a most pleasant scent. Under all that was the light tantalizing scent Billy's own unique odor. That one set off stirrings in him that he had been afraid of dealing with up until this past year.  
  
Billy pulled back and blushed deeply, "Sorry, Tom."  
  
"Don't be sorry," Tommy told him. Looking down into Billy's blue- green eyes he added quietly so just the two of them could hear, "There's been a hole in my life since you left. Don't apologize for filling it up again." He saw Billy's eyes light up with a hint of surprise. "What, you thought you could just go off and live in an aquarium and not be missed?" he kidded him. "Our team hasn't been able to beat Jase's in a game of B'ball since you left."  
  
"Then we'll have to rectify that," Billy smiled back at him, and Tommy thought he felt a tentative squeeze from Billy's hand in his own before he let go. "It's most felicitous to see you again too."  
  
Tommy found himself unconsciously looking around the room for Trini to translate before realized that she wasn't there- that she wasn't ever going to be there. Before the thought could bring down his good mood, he savagely shoved it into the back of his mind with just a quick prayer for forgiveness to whatever deity might be listening. "I think that means it's good to see me too," he said.  
  
Billy nodded and smiled before saying, "Precisely." Then Tommy thought he heard him add, "More than you know."  
  
Before looking up at the others, Tommy added for Billy's ears only, "I know more than you might expect." Billy gave him a startled look, and then quickly glanced over at Jason. Tommy knew that the former Gold Ranger was probably going to catch an earful soon. "And don't blame Jason, he was just trying to make sure I didn't stay too bull-headed. We need to talk."  
  
Billy nodded and said, "Later."  
  
Before either one could reply, Kimberly came over and slipped an arm through Billy's saying, "No, no, no, you don't get to hog all his time just yet. We all want to catch up too." She turned to Jase and Adam, "And you two are dead meat for keeping his being home a secret until now."  
  
Adam protested, "Don't blame us. He threatened us with grave bodily harm if we told anyone before tonight." He turned to Jase for affirmation.  
  
Jase nodded quickly with a smile, "At least that's what we think it was, with all the big words." He winked at Billy, "It was grave bodily harm wasn't it?"  
  
Billy laughed and replied, "Most grievous harm indeed."  
  
"You still haven't answered my question Bro," Tommy interrupted "What's been tough?"  
  
Billy seemed to think for a moment, and the realizing the nature of the question answered, "Recovering, living on Phaedos." He grinned, "No computers, no electricity, and hunting for my own food."  
  
Tommy chuckled, and noted the lean look about him. He didn't look thin, just well conditioned, "It doesn't seem to have hurt you too much."  
  
Billy smiled, and blushed as he indicated his own form, "It did have some positive results. My eating habits haven't included too many refined sugars over the past few years."  
  
"In other words, he hasn't started that early twenties spread so many of us are fighting now," Rocky joked while popping a sausage ball into his mouth.  
  
"That's another twenty sit-ups right there," Adam teased his business partner. Tommy understood. Since they'd stopped Rangering, all the male Rangers were complaining about how hard it was to stay in shape- Rocky and Adam especially. Tommy secretly thought they all- himself included- sounded just a little too much like teenage girls on the subject.  
  
"So's that soda you just had," Rocky joked back.  
  
"Would you listen to them?" Kat commented.  
  
Kimberly and Tanya both laughed before Tanya added with a snicker, "I think they're worried about their girlish figures."  
  
From that point on, it broke down into a good-natured ribbing session with everyone taking turns at kidding each other. Tommy was surprised at how good it felt, just to laugh and be with friends, without having to worry if anyone would guess his secret. He even managed only a small pang of jealousy when he realized that Rocky and Kat were there as a couple. He realized that deep down the jealousy was more over that the two seemed to have a genuine attraction to each other than any real possessiveness of Kat. He'd long since dealt with his feeling about Kim and Adam dating.  
  
As the evening progressed, he found himself standing next to Adam, sipping on a diet soda. The former Black Ranger smiled, leaned in next to him, and gestured toward Billy, "Why don't you ask him out?"  
  
"Huh?" Tommy asked taken aback. "Just how many people know what's going on here?"  
  
Adam smiled, "Well, I don't think Zack or Tanya know, but just about everyone else either does or has their suspicions." He chuckled, "That is, up until that little scene you two made in the den."  
  
"We did not make a scene," Tommy protested.  
  
"Well, it was obvious to anybody who was looking that more passed between you two than just two friends reconnecting." Adam sighed, "I thought you were going to kiss him there for a minute."  
  
Tommy gave him a shocked look, "Adam!"  
  
"Well, I wish you had. He's been pining over you for years now, Tommy, and you're just now realizing that he seems to be what you've been missing too. To be honest, it's starting to get a little old to some of us." Adam turned a looked Tommy in the eye, "And if you let him move back to Phaedos permanently without at least giving it a try, I'm going to beat you to death with a shovel."  
  
"Move to Phaedos permanently? What do you mean move there permanently?" Tommy asked. "And what's this deal with the shovel? You and Jase both threatened to beat me to death with a shovel over Billy."  
  
Adam grinned, "So we can have something to bury your body with." He sighed, and turned to face the rest of the room as he continued, "Since his dad died, he thinks there's not anything here for him. He plans on going there permanently. He says it's to study the ruins there. I think he's running."  
  
"Running from what?" Tommy asked, although he had a sneaking suspicion.  
  
"Not what, who," Adam replied. "A little bit of it is he's running from you, but mainly he's running from himself. He's afraid that if he says anything to you, he'll lose your friendship."  
  
"If he goes off and leaves again without any word, he's going to lose more than a friendship. He's going to lose a few teeth," Tommy growled.  
  
"Tell him that. Not me." Adam smiled and turned to face him, "Unless you're chicken."  
  
Tommy put his drink down, "I'm no coward, Adam." Tommy knew it was dumb, he knew it was juvenile, but for some reason the idea of Adam calling him chicken really stuck in his craw. Putting his drink down on the counter, he said, "I'll be right back."  
  
Before he could lose his nerve, Tommy stalked across the room to where Billy and Kat were quietly talking. Taking a deep breath, Tommy tapped the blond on the shoulder. He could see a look of surprise on Kat's face at what ever it was she saw in his own face. "Bill, Bro," he waited for the former Blue Ranger to turn around.  
  
"What's up Tom?" Bill asked.  
  
Tommy replied, "If you're not doing anything tomorrow night, I was wondering if you wanted to have dinner." He added quickly, "Just the two of us."  
  
Kat smiled from behind Bill and said quietly, "Why Tommy, that sounds suspiciously like you're asking him for a date."  
  
Tommy blushed deep red, and saw Billy's eyes go wide when he told her, "If you want to think of it that way, then that's okay. What about it Billy, you want to go out tomorrow night?"  
  
Looking back and forth between Tommy and Kat, "Not if it is going to cause problems between you two." He stammered and quickly added, "I'd be glad to have dinner with you Tom, but that's all it is if there's going to be any hard feelings anywhere."  
  
Tommy watched Kat put a hand on Billy's shoulder, "I don't have a problem with it Billy." Tommy could hear the sincerity in her voice, "Tommy and I parted on good terms, and I knew this might happen." She winked at Tommy and leaned in close so only the three of them could hear and said, "Besides, the only hard feelings I think there's going to be are in Tommy's jeans." She walked off leaving both men coughing in embarrassment.  
  
"Well Bill?" Tommy asked, after a moment of embarrassment.  
  
He watched as Billy swallowed hard, looked around the room carefully and said, "Dinner sounds good. I'll be ready at six-thirty." Tommy got the distinct feeling that he chose that particular time for a reason. "You can pick me up here."  
  
Tommy nodded "It's a date then." 


	5. Chocolate Sauce and Pink Skirts

Author's note:  
  
I'm unsure if Tommy is a stock car driver or an Indy car driver, so being a boy from Hueytown Alabama, I'm going with what I know.  
  
*****************************************************************  
  
Tommy realized that for the first time in his life he was actually on time for something as he knocked on Jase's kitchen door and went in. Jase, Zack, and Kimberly were sitting at the table having coffee and talking quietly. "Hey guys," he said, "Is Billy ready yet?"  
  
Jason smiled at him, "He's getting dressed. We really weren't expecting you until seven," glancing up at the clock he looked back over at Tommy and demanded, "Okay, what did you do with the real Tommy Oliver?"  
  
"Look, I know it's rare but I am on time occasionally," Tommy protested.  
  
The other three looked at each other and Kimberly smiled, "First I've heard of it." She winked at Jason, "He was never on time for a date with me."  
  
Jason smiled back, ignoring Tommy, "According Kat, he was never on time for a date with her either."  
  
Zack piped up with a smile, "Must be true love," he looked over at Tommy and held up one of Billy's portable scanners, "or a clone." The device hummed for a second as Zack checked it, "Nope, no clone."  
  
Tommy felt the blood rise in his face, "What, did you two come over to do, watch or something?"  
  
"Actually, we came over to make sure of your intentions young man," Zack said in his best imitation of is own father. "Exactly what are you plans this evening? Where are you going, and what time will you be home?"  
  
Jason added in his own imitation of Mr. Scott, "Yes, young Mr. Oliver, exactly what are your intentions toward Bill?"  
  
Tommy touched the side of his face and pitched his voice just a little higher than his usual baritone, "Well, I thought we'd go to dinner, then the movies, and then down to the lake to watch the submarine races and a little necking."  
  
"Tommy!" Kim protested.  
  
Tommy smiled broadly, "You guys started it." He sat down at the table, "How the hell do I know what we're going to do besides dinner. I have never been on a date with guy before."  
  
"That's okay, Tom," Billy's voice came from the doorway, "neither have I." He looked over at his friends sitting at the table with Tommy, "And I most certainly have never had one with an audience." Tommy couldn't get over how good the former Blue Ranger looked. Dressed in a pair of khaki slacks with white and blue striped button down, he looked like a model from GQ. Tommy was really starting to like the ponytail- it was giving him some ideas about running his fingers through it. . .  
  
"Hey, we're not an audience," Jason protested, breaking Tommy's chain of thought. "We're. . . ,"  
  
"You're being a big bro, Jason," his eyes softened, "and believe it or not, it's appreciated." He sighed and looked over at Tommy as his face turned bright red, "But, I'm sure Tom will agree with me, this is difficult enough without the added pressure of that big brother checking out my dates."  
  
Kim smiled, "You guys did it Tommy when we started dating," she protested.  
  
Billy gave her an enigmatic look, and Tommy wasn't sure if he didn't see just a little discomfort in his eyes. "The difference is, that at that time we didn't know Tommy that well." He smiled, "Besides, of whom are you approving? It's not like you haven't known me for most of our lives, and Tommy is as good a friend as they come to all of us." He put his hands on his hips and teased the former Pink and Red Rangers, "So who're you checking on? Because, I've got news for you, I'm a big boy and am fully capable of attending to my own defenses." He looked over at Tommy and actually winked at him, "Besides, if Tom decides to attack me, there's no resisting the fabled White Ranger. After all, he saved the whole team by himself all those times, so even the three of us combined wouldn't stand a chance against him."  
  
"Hey!" Tommy protested, "I wasn't that bad!"  
  
Billy smiled at him, "Yes, you were." Tommy could sense nothing but good- natured teasing in Billy's voice without a trace of sarcasm, "There were times when I wondered why Zordon kept the rest of us around. We never could defeat the monsters until after you showed up."  
  
"Because we needed each other," Tommy told him seriously. He and Jase had once had a long talk about how there for a while; it was as if Tommy was a one man team. No matter what happened, the five other team members couldn't beat what ever Rita or Zed sent down until the whole team was there. Eventually, things got back to normal, but there were times when he felt like he was the center character in some kind of sick action/drama.  
  
Billy smiled at him, "I know Tom. Actually I have a few theories of my own about that," he seemed to study Tom for long moments, and Tommy wasn't sure if his gaze was scientific, or amorous, "Maybe I'll share them with you sometime."  
  
Tommy looked up at the clock and smiled, "Well, we can stand here all day and talk, or we can go eat." He looked over at Jason, and the others, "If that's okay with you guys?"  
  
Zack leaned back, taking the coffee pot from the counter. Pouring himself another cup, he said, "Who us? We don't have any say in anything." Smiling he added, "Except one lump or two."  
  
Tommy grinned at him and punched him playfully in the arm. For just a moment, he felt like he was seventeen again, "I'll give you a lump." Looking up at Billy, he said, "You ready?"  
  
He watched Billy smile, "Yeah. We'd better get out of here, or they'll decide to join us."  
  
Half an hour later, the two men were seated across from each other at one of those cozy little family-owned restaurants every city of any size has. The kind where the atmosphere is just right, the service always good, and the food fantastic, until somebody writes about it in the local paper and it goes down hill. Tommy was having a hard time believing that he was actually going through with this. He was actually on a date with a guy- not just any guy either, but the guy he'd been trying to hide his feelings for from himself since he was seventeen. "Look, I'm sorry about that scene back a Jase's," he told his blond companion, more out of an attempt to have something to say than any real need to apologize. He understood that his friends were only teasing.  
  
"It was rather difficult," Billy reached up for the glasses that weren't there, telling Tommy volumes with that single gesture. Primarily, that Billy was as nervous as he was. "It was somewhat disconcerting to have an audience for something like this. As I understand it, this kind of step is usually taken in private, not with three of your oldest friends watching and offering advice."  
  
Tommy found himself chuckling, unable to get over the weirdness of the situation, and the idea of him being here. He caught himself trying not to stare at Billy, but a three-year absence made it difficult. He hadn't been lying when he said that the former Blue Ranger's absence had left a hole in his life- one that he didn't intend to allow to open up again. He sighed and leaned back and asked, "What are your plans?" he asked neutrally.  
  
Billy sighed, "I'm not sure just yet. A lot depends on other factors, right now." Leaning forward on the table his voice became serious, "Why did you ask me out Tommy?"  
  
Tommy was taken off guard by the question, and without thinking he gave an honest answer, "Because, I've always wanted to. Because I was afraid that if I didn't do it now, I might not ever get the chance to."  
  
He watched as Billy considered his answer for long moments, his blue- green eyes shining in the soft light of the restaurant. Finally, he asked, "If you always wanted to, then why didn't you ask earlier?" his gaze piercing Tommy to the soul.  
  
"Because I was afraid," he leaned forward, "Because I was scared that you'd laugh at me, or that it would hurt our friendship." He shrugged, and remembered his promise to himself about honesty, "And I guess, because I was afraid of what it meant about me." Then he realized something, and put the ball in Billy's court, "What about you? Why didn't YOU ask ME out?"  
  
Billy smiled as if he realized what Tommy had just done, "For the same reasons mostly, although I dealt with being gay a long time ago." He chuckled, "I suppose my penchant for over analyzing an issue applies to the personal as well. Plus at the time you were dating one of my closest friends, and I would never had done that to her." He smiled, "Besides, when I first noticed you, and believe me I noticed you, you were still somewhat a tough guy. I didn't want to get pounded."  
  
"I wasn't that bad," Tommy protested, but knew that was exactly the image he'd cultivated to try to hide what he was feeling. "I tried to deny it for the longest. To hide what I was feeling," he told Billy. "It was easy around Zack, and Rocky. They're nice guys, even good-looking, but for some reason I just never found them that attractive. With Jase, he was my best bud, the guy I take turns with using for a punching bag when one of us is upset- not boyfriend material. Besides, he's straight as an arrow. Adam," he smiled, "he was a little different. I don't know what it is about you shy quiet types, but there's something about you that makes me want to sweep you up, take you home, coat you in chocolate and munch my way to the best parts." That last statement just popped out before Tommy realized what he was saying.  
  
Billy laughed, "Sounds like an enjoyable endeavor, albeit a rather fattening one." Sighing he sipped his iced-tea before continuing, "So it was me or Adam?"  
  
Tommy shook his head afraid Billy misunderstood him. He quickly clarified, "No, it was never a choice between you or Adam, I just said he was attractive."  
  
Billy leaned across the table, "To be honest, Tom this is completely unexpected. I had no idea that you too were experiencing same-gender attractions and had no hope at all that I would be the focus of such attractions."  
  
Tommy smiled at him realizing that this conversation was definitely coming from Billy's heart. He only began to use his full vocabulary when he was nervous or dealing with his feelings. It's not that Tommy didn't understand the words- quite the contrary, Tommy wasn't stupid- it's he was unused to hearing them strung together like that. Finally, he said," Bill, your degenerating into the Billy-speak again."  
  
Billy blushed and said, "Sorry. I tend to do that, when I'm nervous." Smiling he continued, "As I was saying, the idea that you might reciprocate my affection came as a complete surprise to me."  
  
Tommy relaxed. Jason had been right. They'd at least cleared the air on that much. He took a deep breath and asked, "Now what?"  
  
Billy smiled, "I'm not sure. You've more experience with relationships than I." He shrugged, "I'm not sure what happens next." Then with a wicked gleam in his eyes he said, "although your chocolate suggestion does have a certain amount of merit."  
  
Tommy leaned forward, "Billy, what I'm asking is; are you going to be around for there to BE a next thing? Are you heading off to Phaedos permanently?"  
  
Billy gave him a confused look and asked, "Whatever gave you that idea?"  
  
"Adam said you were planning to move there permanently. He thinks you're running from yourself." Tommy repeated what the former Black Ranger had told him.  
  
Billy shook his head, "I DO have to go back to Phaedos, but not permanently. I'm not sure how Adam got the impression that I was moving there permanently. All I said was that there was a lifetime's worth of work there. That I'd love to do it, and that one day soon I was going to have to get started on it." He shook his head, "But I don't have to move there permanently to do it. Believe me, I do not want Dulcea's job."  
  
"What could possibly be so interesting about that bunch of ruins?" Tommy asked.  
  
Billy smiled, "Besides it being the Homeworld of whoever built the Morphin' Grid?" He checked to make sure nobody was listening before leaning in close to continue. "I've made some rather startling discoveries about the nature of the Great Power, and have even been able to formulate some pretty extensive working hypothesis' about how the various Power Ranger teams came into being." He stopped and looked at Tommy, "Back to YOUR question; do you want me to be there for the next thing or is this just an attempt to settle things for yourself one way or the other."  
  
"I wouldn't have asked you out if I wasn't interested, Billy." Tommy protested. "To turn your question back on you, do you want to be there for the next thing?"  
  
Billy laughed and said, "Touché." Sighing he leaned back, and once again considered the question before saying, "Tommy, I'm not Kimberly or Kat."  
  
"I know." Tommy tried to protest.  
  
"Hear me out Tom," he interrupted, holding up a hand, "What I'm saying is that I care about you, even love you, but having a relationship with me won't be like one with Kimberly or Kat." He smiled and joked. "For one thing, I won't fit into that little pink skirt."  
  
Tommy couldn't help but chuckle, "I'm not looking to replace Kim or Kat, Billy. They are two very important women in my life, and I'll always love both of them very much, but they aren't what I need. They aren't what I want."  
  
"What makes you think I am?" Billy asked. "What makes you think that I'd be good for you?"  
  
"I don't know, Bill," Tommy told him. "Somehow it just seems right though. I can feel it in my bones."  
  
Billy smiled at him and teased, "Tommy, there's no bone there."  
  
It took a moment to catch what the former Blue Ranger meant by that remark, and upon realizing it Tommy blushed deeply. "That's not what I mean, Billy. I mean, I've done a lot of thinking over the past year, and have come to realize that I've loved you for a long time. I don't know why, maybe it's a case of opposites attracting, but I do know what I'm feeling- have felt for a long time for you isn't like anything I ever felt before."  
  
Billy seemed content with that answer, and Tommy got the feeling that for some reason getting it right the first time with Billy was going to be important. Again, they sat for long minutes. Finally, Billy spoke up, "Have you considered what this might do to your career Tommy?" He smiled, "Let's face it, NASCAR fans aren't exactly known for embracing the concept of gay men. If you come out publicly it could cost you your fan base."  
  
Tommy had considered that. He'd spent more than enough time in the pit to know how most of the racers and crew would accept something like that. Although, he didn't expect to have any problems from his own crew, he knew that his fan base would probably crumble- for a while at least. He was willing to take that chance, "I have. Trust me, I know about NASCAR fans. I can handle it."  
  
"Good," Billy told him. Reaching out, he took Tommy's hand, "Tom, I'm willing to give it a shot." Looking around he added, "God knows I've wanted to give it a shot since you started dating Kim. I just wanted you to make sure that you knew what you were getting into. Being a researcher, the fact that I'm gay won't make a lot of difference, but being a race car driver is a different story."  
  
"Then you'll go out with me again?" Tommy asked hesitantly.  
  
"As long as you don't turn into a lug wrench and attack Angel Grove in the next few hours, yes." Billy told him. Then smiling wickedly, "But, I am NOT putting on that pink skirt!" 


	6. Kisses in the moonlight

*****************************************************************  
  
Tommy couldn't believe how well the evening had gone. He and Billy had literally closed the restaurant down, talking quietly and catching up on each other's lives. Tommy was surprised to find out that Billy had managed to follow a great deal of his racing career from Phaedos. That; made him feel just a little guilty about staying out of touch himself.  
  
Finally, the manager had politely reminded them that they needed to close the dining room, and hinted that it was time to leave. In no time, they found themselves walking along the lakeside path at the park, a winter's moon hanging heavy in the sky. Without thinking, Tommy reached out and took Billy's hand in his own, and only realized the enormity of that single gesture when Billy looked down at their joined hands and smiled without comment.  
  
They walked quietly, hand in hand along the path, neither daring to say anything that would break the spell of peace and the sense of rightness that just seem to wash over them. For the first time in his life, Tommy felt in harmony with himself and the universe. He could feel his center vibrating deep within him, solidly grounded to the Earth, and as his heart soared he heard a cry in his mind that he thought had long been silenced: the victory cry of the falcon.  
  
Billy looked over at him and smiled, and in the moonlight, Tommy thought his eyes took on a slightly wolfish gleam. _Now can you hear my voice, fledgling?_ a voice asked in his mind.  
  
_Huh? Who are you?_ Tommy mentally asked in surprise. Opening his mouth to speak aloud, he stopped when Billy gently reached out and touched his finger to Tommy's lips.  
  
_I am Horus, the Falcon Spirit. You have been gone from my realm for too long, your mind hidden by a strange élan,_ the voice answered. _An élan, with the shade of rich blood_  
  
_The Zeo and Turbo Powers?_ Tommy asked.  
  
_If that is what you call them, they are not of the Great Power,_ the voice told him. Billy only smiled at him, remaining silent as if he knew what was transpiring, but not wanting to interfere.  
  
_It is time you returned to the aerie, Lord of the Skies_ the voice told him. _One of your kettle has broken the pact and has summoned dark winds to him._ He could feel the spirit smile, _Luka's cub will guide you in what you must do. You have been away from the kettle too long._  
  
_Luka's cub?_ Tommy asked.  
  
Again, he felt the spirit smile as it replied, _The one whose paw you hold in your talon. The one you would seek to take as a mate._ Tommy felt himself blush at the comment.  
  
_Billy?_ Tommy asked.  
  
_Here,_ Billy's voice replied in his mind.  
  
_Do you know what's going on?_ Tommy asked.  
  
Billy frowned and then replied sadly, "One of the reasons I returned to Earth was to find out more about this."  
  
"About what Billy?" Tommy asked, not liking the turn the evening had taken.  
  
Billy sighed and looked at him. Tommy saw a deep sorrow in his eyes mixed with something that looked like relief. He said, "Dulcea believes that one of the former Rangers has turned against us."  
  
"I can't believe that, Billy!" Tommy told him, spinning the former Blue Ranger around to face him. "I can't believe that one of our own has gone over." Suddenly he realized that Billy may have other reasons for accepting his invitation to dinner. Dropping his hands he asked, "Is that why you went out with me, Billy- to find out if I was the one?" He watched Billy's eyes closely, knowing that his old friend would be unable to lie with those deep blue-green orbs.  
  
Billy shook his head- nothing but honesty radiating from his face. "No, Tommy. I went out with you because I've always wanted to." Looking down he seemed to gather his thoughts, "I won't lie to you Tommy. My main purpose for coming back to Earth was to find out who is betraying the Rangers. I never suspected that you felt this way about me- the same way I feel abut you. What I told you tonight was nothing but the truth." Looking up at Tommy, Billy must have seen disbelief in his eyes, because the tone of Billy's voice cut through him like a knife, "If you don't believe me, believe this."  
  
Billy reached out and pulled Tommy to him, pressing them into a kiss. Tommy felt himself melt against the other man, as Billy's tongue sought entrance into his mouth. A surge of something went through Tommy as he was caught up in the kiss. He'd never felt something like this before. It set off all kinds of reactions in his body, not the least of which he could feel pressing against Billy's hip. Several moments later, Billy released him with a gentle nip to his lower lip, and Tommy realized that he'd forgotten to breathe.  
  
"Now do you believe me?" Billy asked.  
  
Tommy nodded and swallowed the lump in his throat before replying with a smile," I'm not sure, maybe you should prove it to me again."  
  
Billy smiled and stepped up to him saying, "Gladly," just before kissing him again, this time with even more fervor. Tommy couldn't believe what was going on inside him, as he felt the former Blue Ranger press his body against him. Their tongues danced in each other's mouth, as Tommy let his hands roam up and down Billy's tightly muscled back, reveling in their hardness under his hands. Slowly he let them glide lower to rest against Billy's back pockets, as he felt Billy's hands make similar explorations of his body.  
  
Realizing that they were standing in the pathway and in plain sight of anyone who might come along, Tommy reluctantly pulled back from Billy and said with a smile, "Maybe we should find some place a little less public."  
  
Billy grinned up at him and said, "Is this where I regret not taking Jason and the others up on their offer to protect my virtue against the fable White Ranger?"  
  
"Your virtue is intact?" Tommy asked jokingly, as he mentally wondered where Billy learned to kiss like that.  
  
Billy smirked, "Pure as the driven snow. Never been kissed up until five minutes ago."  
  
"I don't believe that," Tommy told him.  
  
Billy just smiled and took his hand as they continued down the path, "It's true. Never been anybody I wanted to kiss except you."  
  
Tommy stopped and turned Billy to face him, "Billy, are you telling me that was your first kiss?"  
  
Billy nodded, "Affirmative."  
  
"What about Violet, and Laura?" he asked. "You never kissed them? What about Cestria?"  
  
Billy shook his head, and chuckled, "Never." He smiled at Tommy, "And kissing Cestria would have been like kissing a goldfish."  
  
"That's an image I didn't need, Billy," Tommy told him as they began walking hand in hand once again. For long moments, Tommy considered all the things he'd heard tonight. Billy had managed to drop more than one bombshell on him, and it was going to take a while to get it all sorted out. One thing was certain though; he was not going to waste this chance for building a relationship with the former Blue Ranger.  
  
"Billy?" he asked quietly.  
  
The blond turned and looked at him and replied with a smile, "Yes?"  
  
"What do we do now?" he asked. "I mean about your mission," he paused a moment, "and just as importantly, about us?"  
  
Billy stopped under a huge oak tree that arched out over the pathway blocking the moonlight, and shielding them in shadow. He ran a gentle hand up and down Tommy's arm before replying, "As far as my mission goes; I continue looking for the traitor." He looked up, and what Tommy saw there sent the butterflies in his stomach to fluttering again, "As far as we're concerned; I'm yours, body, mind and soul." He grinned deeply, "Just don't forget the lesson in Ladyhawke." Tommy realized that his face must have showed his puzzlement, because Billy explained, "Wolves and falcons mate for life. If I do this," he paused and fixed Tommy with his gaze, "if WE do this, you need to know that I'm not holding anything back. I'm handing you my heart and trusting you to keep it safe for me."  
  
Tommy was surprised at the intensity in Billy's eyes and voice. He was just a little awed at the amount of trust and faith Billy was placing in him. He swallowed hard and as he was caught up in the enormity of what Billy had just told him. He felt something click in his own heart. Without thought, he reached out and pulled Bill to him before saying, "The same goes for me Bill. This isn't a game, and this isn't just a chance to prove myself one way or the other. I'm serious. I want to continue." He stopped and ran his hand from Billy's shoulder, up the side of his neck and finally, stopped with his fingers gently intertwined in the blond locks held in a tight ponytail. "I've never been more serious about this in my life. I want you Bill Cranston, and if you'll have it, I'm giving you MY heart to keep safe." Then he pulled the blond into another kiss, that sent tingles of electricity down his spine to lodge somewhere in the front of his jeans.  
  
Tommy didn't remember ending the kiss. He wasn't sure that they had. It was as if the walk back to Jason's house was a dream punctuated with moments of intense experience as they walked along the path stopping occasionally to steal a kiss in the shadows. Tommy had always thought that the feeling he got when he morphed was the ultimate high, surpassing any need to ever experiment with drugs. That night, holding Billy in his arms, getting lost in those blue-green eyes, feeling the power of their shared kisses made even the power of the Morphin' Grid pale in comparison. Somewhere in the back of his mind, he thought he heard a raptor-like voice chuckling in amusement at that thought.  
  
All too soon, they found themselves standing on the front porch at Jason's house, the overhead light outshining the winter moon. Billy looked up at him, and Tommy could see the reluctance to end the night that he too felt. "Can we do this again sometime: soon?" Billy asked.  
  
Smiling at Billy's echoing his own thoughts, he replied, "Tomorrow night? I have to be at the track early, but by three or so I should be finished. I could fix you dinner and we could watch a movie."  
  
Billy smiled asked, "You can cook?"  
  
Tommy chuckled, "Yes, I can cook, much better than I can sculpt. Mom made sure that I wouldn't go hungry before she ever let me move out of the house."  
  
Billy laughed at the reminder of Tommy's attempt at sculpture in art class that eventually became one of Zed's monsters. "That wouldn't take a lot, Tom." He smiled, "But, I'll take my chances. I'd love to."  
  
"What would you like to see then?" Tommy asked.  
  
Billy shrugged, "I've been off planet, remember. I have no idea what's out. You know my tastes in movies, you pick something."  
  
It was Tommy's turn to laugh as he replied, "Okay, anything with giant rubber monsters attacking Tokyo it is." Tommy chided Billy about his love of old Godzilla movies- a rather ironic interest all things considered.  
  
Billy smiled, and pulled Tommy down into another kiss that sent his heart racing again. This time, he could feel Billy's own reaction to the kiss pressing against him. He smiled mentally and pulled Bill tighter to him, as he lodged his hands in the blonds back pockets. Long minutes later, the light went out on the porch as a not so subtle reminder that they were in a semi-public area. As they separated, Billy whispered into his ear, "Don't forget the chocolate sauce." 


	7. Shopasaurus

**************************************************************  
  
Jason grinned across the card table at Kim and Adam, as they heard Billy enter the front door. "I'll bet you a smoothie that he tries to slip upstairs unnoticed," Kim said.  
  
"No bet," Jason told her. "I've known him as long as you have. That's exactly what he'll try to do. You know Billy; don't talk about it and maybe it'll go away."  
  
"What will go away?" Bill asked from the door, and Jason felt the blood rise in his face.  
  
"Uh. . . , nothing. . . ," Jason replied as the other two tried to hide their snickers behind the cards they were holding.  
  
"We were just discussing whether or not you'd poke your head in here and say good night," Adam volunteered unconvincingly.  
  
Billy just smiled and leaned against the doorframe. Jason had never seen Billy in this state of blissful contentment before. "Kim," he ventured, "could I ask a favor?"  
  
"Sure Billy," Kim told him. "Name it."  
  
"I find myself in need of your assistance in a personal matter. You remember that shopping trip you and I went on a few years back?" he asked. Jason recalled that fateful weekend about a year or so after they became Rangers. Kimberly had taken Billy to the mall, ostensively to get a new pair of glasses, but he ended up with a new wardrobe and hairstyle."  
  
"Yeah Billy," she said as she winked over at Adam and Jason.  
  
"I was wondering if you would be willing to accompany me again on a similar excursion in the morning." Billy's voice had an almost dreamily detached tone to it, that made Jason wonder exactly what had gone on tonight. "I'm afraid my wardrobe is somewhat limited after being off planet for so long." Jason found himself chuckling at that comment. Billy had arrived at his house last week with only a small backpack containing very few items of clothing. The two had barely had time to pick up a few pair of jeans and shirts for him at the local Wal- Mart, and had been unable to add any more to his wardrobe since then.  
  
"Let me get this straight," Kimberly asked playfully. "You think you have to ask me to go shopping?" Throwing her voice back to the Valley speak she was so fond of when they were in high school, she twirled her hair in her hand, put on her best vacant look and said, "Not!" Smiling as she leaned back in her chair, she continued, "I'd be glad to go Billy. But why so soon?"  
  
He grinned down at her and mocked her tone, "Because I've got a date tomorrow night and absolutely nothing to wear."  
  
"Thank you for your assistance," Billy said. "What time can you pick me up?"  
  
Kimberly smiled at him and said, "How about nineish?" Then teasing him, she added, "You really are going to have to get a car."  
  
Billy chuckled, winked at her and said, "Just as soon as I get my finances straightened out at the bank." He turned and winked at Jason, "And I'll be out of your hair too."  
  
Jason looked up at his oldest friend and told him, "Bro, you're welcome to stay here as long as you need to, you know that."  
  
"I know, Jason, and I appreciate it." Billy leaned against the door, and sighed, "But I really do need to get a place of my own."  
  
"What about your dad's house?" Adam asked.  
  
"Jason took care of selling it for me right after Dad died," he told Adam. Suddenly, Billy's expression changed. He gave Adam a long look, "Why did you tell Tommy that I was planning on going back to Phaedos permanently?"  
  
"You did what!?" Jason demanded with a half shout. "How could you lie to Tommy like that?"  
  
Adam sank down in his chair, blushing deeply. "Because I was afraid he wouldn't ask Billy out if he thought he were back to stay. They would keep avoiding each other's feelings." Adam offered sheepishly. "I was tired of watching them dance around each other, and thought it was about time somebody kicked one of them in the butt." He shrugged, "Sometimes it's easier to manipulate Tommy than Billy."  
  
"That was sweet," Kimberly gushed at her boyfriend, and kissed him on the cheek.  
  
"Remind me to kick your butt later," Billy smiled. "And by the way, thanks. It worked." He turned from the room saying, "I'm beat. I think I'll turn in." He winked at Kimberly, "I get the feeling that I'm going to need all my strength to keep up with Kim in the morning. Good night, all." He left the room with a smile on his face.  
  
"I'd say they had a good time tonight," Adam said leaning back in his chair.  
  
Jason smiled at Adam's comment, then looked over at Kimberly. He asked, "You okay with this?"  
  
Smiling up she replied, "Okay with what?"  
  
"Tommy and Billy dating?"  
  
"Why wouldn't I be okay with it?" She asked. "Two men I love like brothers are finally getting a shot at what they really want," she continued. "If this is what's meant to be, then I'm happy for them." Jase wasn't sure if he believed her or not but was willing to take what she said at face value: for now.  
  
She smiled over at her Adam, "If I'm going to take Billy shopping tomorrow, we'd better get on out of here." Glancing over at Jason, she gave him a wicked grin, "I'm going to run his little blue butt ragged tomorrow."  
  
  
  
  
  
Kimberly pulled into the mall, and looked over to her blond passenger. "Just how much of a shopping trip are we talking here? I mean just what all do you need?"  
  
Billy grinned at her, "Just about everything. Most of my wardrobe from before I left, doesn't fit anymore." He gestured down to himself, "Three years of being away from stores has left me pretty bare of clothing."  
  
She gave him a confused look, "Exactly what did you wear on Phaedos then?"  
  
He simply grinned, "You remember what Dulcea was wearing when we first met her?" Kim nodded remembering the rather revealing outfit the master warrior had worn on their first meeting. She nodded and Billy continued, "Something like that- sans the bra of course."  
  
"Billy!" She protested, "Why not stick with jeans and shirts?"  
  
Billy grinned and answered as he exited the car, "Because, after a week or so, they're just not that comfortable in a rainforest."  
  
Kimberly had to admit the idea of her blond friend running around dressed like Brendan Frazier as George of the Jungle held a certain amount of prurient interest for her. She gave him one of her playful grins, "I think I would have paid good money to see you in something like that."  
  
Billy just winked at her, "What would Adam say?"  
  
She stuck out her tongue and gave him a pout, "Nothing, because I didn't say that did I?"  
  
"Say what?" Billy asked.  
  
"Exactly," she replied. Returning to her original question as they entered the mall, she asked, "Where do you want to start?"  
  
"I'm not sure," Billy told her. "I'm leaving myself in your more than capable of hands." He grinned at her and reminded her what she'd told him when they first made this trip as teenagers. "I trust you completely." Something in his voice, though told her that that might not be exactly true.  
  
"Good," she said after only a second's pause. "Then we'll go to Penny's and get your clothes later." Then reaching up behind his head, she flipped the ponytail and said, "First, we'll take care of this for you." Chuckling to him she said, "it works for Tommy, but for some reason I just can't wrap my mind around it on you."  
  
"I thought you would like it," he teased her, "after all, you liked it on Tommy."  
  
"Yeah, but Tommy had all this bad boy image going," she told him. "On you, it just makes you look like a bad boy wanna-be."  
  
He smiled, "You are of course correct. However, maybe I should wait and ask Tommy."  
  
"Oh no you don't start that," Kimberly told him seriously. "If Tommy's interested in you, it's because of you, not because of your hair. Don't go changing yourself just because you think he might like it. If I know Tommy Oliver, and I think I do, then he'd tell you to do what you wanted, not what you think he might want you to do."  
  
He held up his hands in surrender, "Okay, okay, then to the stylist first."  
  
Five minutes later they were in the salon, and Billy was sitting in a chair while her mother's old friend looked Billy over. As she took his hair down from the ponytail, clucking in disapproval to herself at the simple rubber band holding it back, Kimberly was surprised to see the golden locks fall past Billy's shoulders. Evidently, his hair had grown a great deal over the past three years. "How much of this do you want to leave?" the woman asked.  
  
Kimberly saw Billy smile into the mirror, "Ask Kimberly. I'm putting myself into her hands entirely."  
  
The stylist looked over at her questioningly, "Kim?"  
  
Kimberly smiled at her and said, "He trusts me, and I trust you. Make it stylish, easy to manage, and short." Quickly she added, "No spikes."  
  
The stylist smiled back and asked, "How about something like the last time I did his hair for you."  
  
Kimberly nodded, "That'll work."  
  
An hour later, Kimberly walked out of the style shop with a properly shorn and styled Billy. With some amusement, she watched him flex his neck, trying to accustom himself to the missing weight on his head. "You'll get used to it," she told him.  
  
Smiling down at her, he replied, "I hadn't realized just how much mass so little hair had." Looking back down toward the concourse, he said, "Once again into the breach dear friend."  
  
"Huh?" she asked.  
  
"Sorry, it's from Henry V." he sighed and said, "Let's go on to Penny's and get the shopping done."  
  
"Sure thing," she told him as they headed down the mall. Three hours later, their shopping complete, the two former Rangers were seated in a small restaurant talking quietly, and catching up on each other's lives. Billy seemed somewhat withdrawn- as if something was bothering him. Sighing, Kim leaned back and asked, "What's wrong Billy?"  
  
Billy smiled sheepishly over at her, "Caught me did you?"  
  
"When it comes to your moods, you're not hard to catch," she told him. "You never have been good at hiding when you you're upset or disturbed."  
  
"You really think so?" Billy asked.  
  
"I know so," she told him. Jase, Zack, and I can tell when you're upset almost immediately."  
  
Billy smiled at her, "Maybe you and Zack can, but I'm not so sure about Jase anymore." He shook his head, "Or maybe I'm just getting a little better at hiding my emotions."  
  
Kimberly was confused by that. What did he mean that Jase couldn't read him anymore?" "You want to explain that?" she asked.  
  
Billy shrugged, "A few years back, Jase thought I was upset over him taking the Gold Powers and not me." He shook his head, "He read me all wrong. I couldn't have been happier to see him back in action alongside Tommy, where he belonged."  
  
"You didn't resent him getting the Gold Powers even a little?" Kimberly asked. She knew her friend tended to be easy going, but this was a little laid back even for him. Even she had to admit that she missed the excitement, the thrill, and the high of being a Ranger. Although she didn't go through the withdrawals Tommy had when he lost the Green Power, she still felt an emptiness inside her when she gave up her link to the Crane.  
  
Billy shook his head, "Why should I miss it? It wasn't like I'd given anything up."  
  
"You gave up being the Blue Ranger, the morphin', everything," she protested. "How can you say that you hadn't given anything up? I know if I'd had a shot at the Gold Powers, then I might have given Jason a run for his money for them."  
  
Billy just smiled at her before replying, "Because by then I had started to suspect something about the Great Power that nobody else did. Jason wasn't connected to it, so I felt like he deserved a shot at being a Ranger again. If I'd known what was going to happen with his body rejecting the Powers I might have tried to stop him then, but I didn't, so I engineered an excuse for not taking them myself." He gave her a long stare, "and I'd appreciate it if you didn't tell Jason that. I feel bad enough about how things turned out as it is."  
  
"You mean that you could have taken them, but didn't?" She couldn't understand how Billy could be so blithe about not being a Ranger again. Especially since he was still in constant contact with the other Rangers at that time. "Why Billy?"  
  
Billy sighed and leaned back in the booth as he steepled his fingers. She could almost see that fantastic brain of his consider his answer carefully before speaking. Finally, he seemed to come to some conclusion, because he said. "I think it might be easier if I showed you." He looked around as if to see if anyone else was within earshot. Looking back at her, he leaned forward and asked, "Do YOU trust ME?"  
  
"What a question Billy. Of course I trust you!" she told him.  
  
Smiling he said, "Actually it's a very important question, because if I'm wrong about this," he looked up, "and I pray that I'm not- then I could be taking my life in my own hands here."  
  
"Billy, you're scaring me," Kimberly told him. She'd never seen Billy quite this intense before.  
  
"I don't mean to Kim, but I do need you to trust me." He smiled.  
  
"I do trust you Billy," she told him.  
  
"Fine, then lean back in your seat and close your eyes," he told her. Acquiescing, she did as he bade. "Now I want you to relax, listen to your own heart beat. Shut out all the background noise you hear, even my voice. Tell me what you hear deep inside you."  
  
Concentrating on what Billy told her to do; Kimberly closed her eyes and concentrated on the sound of her own heart, slowly shutting out the sound of the rest of the restaurant. Somewhere deep inside her, she felt something she'd long thought gone rise up from the brightest shadows of her soul. It was a call she thought she'd given up years ago. It was the sound of the Crane. _Now can you hear me, my agile one?_ a voice called her to her mind.  
  
_How can I hear you? I gave you to Kat?_ she replied with her own mind voice.  
  
_You cannot give me away, hatchling. I will always be a part of you. Such is the nature of the Great Power,_ the voice told her. _Kat may have piloted the Crane, but I chose YOU. Forever will we be tied by the Great Power. You just have not called on me in all these years._  
  
_You mean I'm still a Ranger?_ she asked.  
  
_Yes, and no._ the voice told her. _You are still Ninjetti. You can still call on that Power, and it is far greater than any that the other Rangers posses.  
  
_I don't understand,_ Kim told the voice.  
  
_Ask Luka's child, he will guide you. He will explain. There is a great danger. One of your Rangers had betrayed your sacrifices. They have summoned to them dark waters with dangerous powers. They have sought to destroy all that you fought for."  
  
_A Ranger gone bad? Who?_ she asked, not believing that one of her friends could betray them.  
  
_We do not know. It is the mission of Luka's child to find out,_ the Crane told her.  
  
Kim opened her eyes and looked at Billy. "Is this why you came home?" she asked.  
  
Billy nodded, "Yes."  
  
"Do you know who it is?" she asked.  
  
Billy shook his head, "Not yet. I know it's not you or Tommy so far. I don't think it's Jason or Adam, but I haven't had the opportunity to explore that avenue just yet." He looked down and continued more softly, "Or the intestinal fortitude for that matter." When Billy looked up at her, she could see the worry in his eyes. "I don't know if I could do what needs to be done if it's one of them, or Rocky or Zack." He shook his head, "Or even Kat or Aisha for that matter."  
  
Kimberly sat back and thought about what Billy was saying- what he was not saying. "What are you talking about Billy?"  
  
"Fighting Rita and Zed was one thing Kim. They were strangers, the enemy, the other. There's not an emotional attachment to them. But there is no evil in the world like that of an Angel gone bad. It won't be a fight just to stop them from taking over the world. It's very likely going to be a fight where one of us won't walk away."  
  
Kimberly considered what her oldest friend was telling her. She knew in her heart of hearts that he was telling the truth, even if she couldn't wrap her mind around the idea of Billy killing someone. She'd never met a more gentle soul in all her life as Billy Cranston, and the concept of him carrying this kind of burden was almost soul crushing. She found herself fighting back tears as she asked, "Why you Billy? Why does it have to be you? Why can't Jason or Tommy do it? They're the warriors, not you. You're a builder."  
  
Billy just smiled at her, "Because Jason and Tommy haven't spent the last three years on Phaedos training with Dulcea- because Jason and Tommy are the warriors, and they think like warriors. This is going to take a lot of detective work Kimberly, and that's what a scientist does best." He stopped a minute and seemed to consider his next words carefully, "And because as much as I hate to say it, I haven't been able to clear Jase yet. Although I've known him most of my life, I don't have the same connection with him that I do with you, Tommy, Adam, Aisha, and Rocky."  
  
"The Great Power?" Kimberly asked.  
  
Billy nodded. "Jason never quested for his spirit guide. He never became Ninjetti, and he never connected to the Great Power." He smiled, "Yes, Jason can still summon the Power of the Morphin' Red Ranger, but he's not Ninjetti."  
  
"What do you mean he can still summon the Red Ranger Power?"  
  
"Jason wasn't wielding the Red Ranger Power when it was supposedly destroyed by Ivan Ooze. When the power dissipated from Rocky, it had to find somewhere to go. That somewhere was Jason. It just took it a long time to build up to where he can summon it again, sort of like a battery that has to recharge over time."  
  
"Are you saying that we can all still summon the Power?" Kimberly asked.  
  
Billy nodded, "Of course. Remember what Zordon said; "Anything is possible with the Great Power." He leaned back again, and appeared to relax. "I've spent the last three years training and studying the ruins on Phaedos. I've come to realize something. Something I'm not sure you're going to take very well."  
  
Kimberly stared at him for a second before asking, "What?"  
  
"That Zordon concealed a great deal from us about the Great Power." He sighed. "We can't give it up. Once it's bonded to us, then it's ours forever. If we'd taken the time to practice and train, then we would have never needed the Zeo Crystals. The Power we tapped into on Phaedos, when understood and applied properly could have been used to bring down the Machine Empire. It would have been more difficult to do it that way. It would have taken a couple of years of training and studying- which by the way, we didn't really have- but it could have been done."  
  
"You mean I'm still the Pink Ranger?" Kimberly asked.  
  
Billy nodded. "You're still the Crane," he told her. Then pitching his voice until it sounded very much like Dulcea's he said, "Graceful, and Light as a feather."  
  
"You sure you're not bucking for Dulcea's job?" she kidded him.  
  
Billy shook his head, "No. There's a white falcon I intend on spending the rest of my life with if he'll have me. And somehow I don't think there's a Phaedos 500."  
  
She smiled at him, "Remember, anything is possible with the Great Power." 


	8. Frogs, Apes, Falcons, Godzilla and Choco...

Author's note: This is the PG 13 version of this chapter. There is an NC 17 version available complete with "naked Ranger boys in chocolate sauce" available for a certain group of people who ask for it nicely. Just email me. You know who you are.  
  
Danny  
  
*****************************************************************  
  
Adam watched as Kim and Billy unloaded Kim's car. With his hair shorn to something more like what he had come to expect out of the former Blue Ranger, Adam noticed that the other changes in his old friend were much more evident. The cerulean turtleneck he was wearing clung to his chest and shoulders accenting the mass he'd put on as well as the definition he'd gained. Although Billy had long ago ceased wearing glasses, for some reason his lack of them now made him look like an entirely different person. With some chagrin, Adam realized that Billy was now someone he really didn't want angry with him- especially after what Jase had told him of their little sparring match at the Black Ape.  
  
"You buy out the store," Adam kidded Billy as he took several packages from him and carried them upstairs to the room he was staying in. Adam had ridden over with Kim this morning when she'd come to pick up Billy, and he and Jase had gone for a late breakfast while the other two had stormed the mall. Later, when Jase had had to go on duty, he volunteered to stay until Billy and Kim returned.  
  
Billy smiled at him at him and said, "No, I left a great deal so you can take Kim back tomorrow."  
  
Adam groaned, "You're an evil man, Cranston."  
  
Billy gave him a strange look and said, "You don't know the half of it." He and Kim exchanged glances, and Adam suddenly had an uneasy feeling.  
  
"Why do I suddenly feel like the rabbit being watched by a wolf?" he asked.  
  
Billy winked at him, and grinned but his voice had a feral tone to it, "Because I'm the spirit of the wolf, Froggie?"  
  
When had this conversation suddenly become so cold? What had happened on Phaedos to turn the calm laidback scientist he knew and loved into the predator standing across the room from him? "Billy?" Adam asked suddenly very serious. "Why did you come back?"  
  
Billy shrugged and said, "You tell me, Adam." He'd covered the distance across the room before Adam realized it. He'd never seen Tommy or Jase move that fast, much less the mild mannered Blue Ranger.  
  
Adam swallowed hard, "There's something wrong isn't there?" He looked up into Billy's eyes and suddenly felt fear in his soul.  
  
Billy nodded and turned away from him, looking out the window. For long moments, Billy simply stood looking out the window as if gathering his thoughts. Finally, he said, "Yes, something is wrong." He took a deep breath before continuing, his back still to Adam, "But I don't know if I can tell you what it is."  
  
Adam considered what his inscrutable friend was saying, "What do you mean you don't know if you can tell me? It's Adam remember, the former Black Ranger, the Frog Prince of Angel Grove." He told Billy trying to insert some humor into the situation and failing.  
  
Billy turned, faced Adam and said, "Are you?" His eyes suddenly gleamed deep blue green in the afternoon light. "Are you willing to trust me like you did when you WERE the Black Ranger?"  
  
Adam was afraid of where this was going, so he asked, "Is this about the Zeo Powers? Are you upset because you were left without powers?"  
  
Billy just smiled and shook his head, "No, Adam. I'm not upset about not taking either the Zeo Powers or the Gold Powers. For the most part, I'm very happy with the way things turned out." He sat down on the bed and smiled, "I'm concerned about something else, something I'm not sure I can bring up just yet." Billy seemed to be waiting for something. What ever it was, it wasn't happening though. Finally, he sighed and said, "I'll make a deal with you." He stood up, "We go down to the Black Ape and you and Rocky spar with me for thirty minutes and I'll answer all your questions, anything you want to ask."  
  
Adam considered what Billy was asking. He'd heard what Jase had told him about his sparring match with Billy. Did Billy really think that he could take both the former Red and Black Rangers? If he'd gotten that cocky, then maybe it was time to bring him down a notch or two. If he was that good, then Adam wanted to see it for himself. "You mean one at a time or both together?" he asked.  
  
"Which ever way you two feel the most comfortable," Billy said with no emotion at all.  
  
Adam shrugged and looked over to see Kim standing in the door. She smiled at him, and to his great surprise told him, "Do it, please." Adam got the distinct impression that Kim knew a lot more about what was going on than he did. That at least made him feel somewhat better about the way the former Blue Ranger was acting.  
  
"Okay, I'll do it." He stood and walked over to Billy and continued, "But, afterwards you answer some serious questions."  
  
Billy nodded and replied, "Anything you want."  
  
Half an hour later, Adam was telling Rocky about his and Billy's agreement. Rocky listened to his explanation of why he wanted him to turn the class over to one of the brown belts for a while, and come with him into one of the more private areas of the dojo. "Let me get this straight, you want you and me to spar with Billy for thirty minutes?" Rocky asked.  
  
Adam nodded and said, "Yes."  
  
"At the same time?"  
  
Again Adam nodded, "Yes."  
  
"You're out of your mind. I don't care what Jason said. Billy never was THAT good a fighter, you or I either one would wipe the floor up with him by ourselves in under five minutes."  
  
Adam just shook his head, "Then you'll help?"  
  
Rocky gave him a long look, "I'll do no such thing. I like Billy too much to embarrass him that much."  
  
"But it was his challenge," Adam protested.  
  
Rocky stopped and considered that last statement. "His idea?" He shook his head and asked, "Why?"  
  
"Beats me," Adam replied. "But he told me that he'd answer anything I wanted to ask about his reasons for being back if we did it."  
  
"The reason he's back is to get into Tommy's pants," Rocky said in a tone that made Adam wonder if he was comfortable with the idea of his two friends being gay.  
  
"I don't think so, Rocky," Adam told him. "I mean, there's something else going on, and he won't tell me what it is until we do this." He sighed and added, "Even Kim thinks this is a good idea."  
  
"And that convinces you that we should beat the crap out one of our friends?"  
  
"No, but I trust Billy, and I'm willing to give him a shot at this, if it it'll get to the bottom of why he's been acting so weird lately," Adam explained.  
  
Rocky sighed, "He's been acting weird because he just spent three years on an alien planet studying under Dulcea. That woman's enough to drive me loco."  
  
"That's not a very far trip, Rocky," Adam teased.  
  
"Very funny, Park," Rocky shot back. Finally he picked up a towel and walked out into the main dojo saying, "well, let's get this over with."  
  
"You'll do it then?"  
  
Rocky smiled back and said, "I'll do it, if for no other reason than to get you to shut up about it." He then went over and spoke to one of the junior instructors for a few minutes before returning to Adam. "You owe me for this one, Park."  
  
Five minutes later, they closed the door to one of the private rooms to find Billy stretching in one corner, wearing his old gi and green belt. Adam noted the fluidity of the former Ranger's motions and the tight compactness of his movements. If this was any indication, Rocky was going to be in for a surprise.  
  
Half an hour later, Adam was helping Rocky up from the dojo floor for the umpteenth time. He couldn't believe the difference in Billy's fighting style. He and Rocky were fighting in top form- they'd been working out and training for hours a day for the last three years- but it was as if they were fighting the Blue Ranger, not Billy. Shaking his head, Rocky told him, "I don't understand it. Nobody gets that good in just three years. I don't care how hard they train."  
  
"Evidently Billy does," Adam said as they went back to 'ready position'. Neither one of them had been able to lay a hand on him in the last half hour. Both men were starting to get frustrated. Adam thought to himself, _I could really use the Ninjetti powers right about now._  
  
_All you have to do is ask, Tadpole,_ a voice said in his head.  
  
Adam was so surprised by the voice that he failed to return Billy's salute. The Blue Ranger however seemed to understand what was happening and he waited patiently as Adam asked in his mind, _Who are you?_  
  
_I am Suaug, the Frog spirit. You have been away from the pond too long my disciple,_ the voice said. _Your spirit has been hidden from me by a strange élan. But now you can hear me again._  
  
_I thought you were gone,_ Adam said, his heart filling with a joy he'd forgotten.  
  
_No, I will never leave you for as long as you stay on the path, and serve the Great Power._  
  
_But I gave up the Power,_ Adam protested.  
  
_You cannot give up the Power. It will be with you always. You just have not called on it, so we've slept. Now it is time to awaken again. One of your pond mates has betrayed you. They have traveled to dark waters and summoned unhealthy life to the pond. Luka's cub is here to find and stop them. He needs your help. Don't disappoint me, Tadpole,_ the voice said.  
  
"How can I help?" Adam and Rocky simultaneously asked aloud. Looking to each other they both grinned.  
  
Billy sighed and leaned back against the wall in relief, "You have no idea scared I just was."  
  
"Why?" Rocky asked. "You were winning."  
  
"You two have to be the densest men I've ever met." Billy told them. "Even I could hear Simia and Suaug calling you from the moment we started sparring."  
  
"But why were you scared?" Rocky asked again. "I got the feeling you could have taken either one of us any time you wanted."  
  
Kimberly came over and put an arm around Adam. Her voice was serious when she finally spoke, "Because if you hadn't eventually answered, it would have meant that you were the traitor." She gave Billy a very sad look, "And that means that the fight would have taken on a completely different timbre."  
  
"You're hunting for a traitor in the Rangers?" Rocky asked.  
  
"Of course," Billy told him. "One of the Rangers has gone over to the other side. That was what Simia was trying to tell you, if you'd listened to her instead of spending all your time asking questions about whether or not you'd still fit into your Ninjetti fighting gear."  
  
"You heard that?" Rocky asked in shock.  
  
"Every word of it," Billy told him.  
  
"Oh God, I'm never going to live that down am I?"  
  
"Nope," Adam said. Then, looking over at Billy he asked, "What can we do to help?"  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
*****************************************************************  
  
Much to Tommy's protests, Billy had insisted on helping with the dinner dishes. Tommy had managed to surprise even himself with how well the meal had turned out. Of course, it did have the advantage of being one of Mrs. Scott's tried and true recipes he'd managed to wheedle out of her, a year or so back.  
  
Taking the last dish from Billy, he said, "Look, why don't you go and sit down in the living room and I'll bring in the desert and coffee." Tommy had to admit that having Billy help him in the kitchen with dishes did have a certain domestic appeal to it, he still felt guilty about his guest helping with the clean up- but Billy had insisted.  
  
"Being as we're finished," Billy replied with a smiled, "sure." He headed out of the kitchen calling back over his shoulder, "Besides, I know how you feel about my coffee."  
  
"That's not coffee, Cranston, that's some kind of industrial waste." Tommy kidded Billy, remembering the stuff the young genius would drink late nights in the 'Zord bays. Billy had offered him a cup once, and without thinking he'd accepted. He'd managed to finish it out of politeness and a desire not to hurt his friend's feelings, but it had left him with the caffeine jitters for most of the day. Thinking back on that time, and some of the feelings he was doing his best to hide, he realized it might not have been the coffee that had given him the jitters.  
  
Ten minutes later, he put the DVD into the player and sat down on the sofa next to Billy with their coffee and desert- ice cream with chocolate and caramel sauce. "When I saw this one at the store, I realized that you probably haven't seen it since it only came out two years ago," he told the blond as he hit 'play' on the remote.  
  
The two settled back into the sofa and lost themselves in Tokyo's battle to survive against the space aliens in Godzilla 2000. Tommy smiled to himself when about halfway through the movie, Billy settled back against him, snuggling into the crook of his arm. By the time the movie was over the two men were stretched out lengthwise, with Billy's back cuddled up against him. Several times, Tommy had to remind himself that this was only their second date, and Billy might not take too well to Tommy's hands wandering to where they might want.  
  
Tommy had to exert a Herculean effort to resist pulling Billy tighter against him, and start nibbling on his neck. He'd dreamed of holding Billy this way, of the texture of his skin under his hands, of the very masculine scent that emanating from him since he'd admitted to himself that he was falling in love with the young genius those long years ago on the Zeo team. He felt himself grow hard against Billy's buttocks, and hoped the other man didn't feel it and get the wrong idea- or the right idea.  
  
Then he felt Billy shift against him, reach up, grasp the hand that was lying across his shoulder, and kiss it. "Tommy?" he asked.  
  
"Hmmm?" Tommy replied.  
  
Billy turned and faced him. Tommy could smell the faint whiff of coffee on his breath, and looked into those gorgeous blue-green eyes. "I know this is only our second date. . . ," Billy's voice trailed off for a second, "I don't have a whole lot of experience with these sort of situations. . .," he seemed to struggle for words. Taking a moment to consider his course of action, the blond finally leaned in and kissed Tommy deeply, sending shivers of pleasure up and down Tommy's spine. He felt the hardness in his jeans throb, as Billy's hands slowly ran down his shoulders, along his arms, across his hips to stop for a second at the small of his back before continuing southward to finally stop on his ass and pull him tightly against him. Breaking the kiss, Billy asked into his mouth, "Would you let me make love to you tonight?"  
  
"Are you sure this is what you want now?" Tommy forced himself to ask while every fiber of his being was screaming: YES!  
  
"I've wanted to since I first realized that I loved you," Billy told him squeezing him tighter.  
  
Tommy smiled at him, "I've never been with a man before, Billy."  
  
Billy smiled back, his hand leaving Tommy's ass to slide between them to stroke the hardness in the front of his Tommy's jeans. "I've never been with anybody before. I want you to be my first, my only."  
  
Tommy nodded, and kissed Billy again saying, "I love you Bill Cranston." His hands finally began their own explorations of the former Blue Ranger's body.  
  
Spying the chocolate sauce in the bowl on the table, Tommy suddenly had a wicked idea. One that would teach Billy a lesson about being careful about what you ask for, you might get it.  
  
An all too short half an hour of love making later, he felt Billy pull him around so they were facing each other, and kiss him deeply. He could taste himself mix with that of Billy and the chocolate sauce. For as long as he lived and as long as the two men were together, kissing Billy would always remind Tommy of this night. Of course he could never look at a can of chocolate sauce the same either. "Hmmm, chocolaty," Billy said pulling back from the kiss and smiling. 


	9. Opening Gambit

*****************************************************************  
  
Tommy awoke and looked down at the sleeping form curled against him. It took several moments before the memories of the night before crystallized in his mind. _It wasn't a dream_, he thought to himself. _I'm really here, he's really here._ He felt his heart suddenly start to race as the memories of last night unfolded across his mind. He realized that it had taken him too long to come to peace with himself, and to accept that he wanted this man in his life this way. Now, he knew that he wanted him forever.  
  
Looking over at the clock, he saw that it read just a little past four in the morning. He had to be at the track in two hours, but couldn't quite bring himself to roll over and simply fall back asleep. Instead, he lay there listening to the steady rise and fall of Billy's breathing, soaking in the peace that permeated the house and his soul. He thought about all the times he'd watched Billy work in the Command Center or the 'Zord bay. He remembered the way he looked tutoring the junior high kids with the sun glinting off his honey colored hair. He could remember the way the young genius would become flustered by anything that even bordered on emotional- how he would avoid physical contact with most of his friends as not being the "Cranston way". Most of all, he remembered how those images made him feel, and as he looked down to the sleeping form lying next to him, he felt happy- truly happy for the first time in his life. He put his arm across Billy and pulled the blond to him, lying there quietly until the alarm went off an hour later.  
  
Three years on the racetrack had taught Tommy to be more responsible with his time- as a racecar driver time was a major component of his life. He realized that his friends would be surprised to find out that he'd not been late for work a single day since he started driving for his uncle. Sliding out of bed quickly, he turned the alarm off and briefly considered breaking that particular streak, but decided against it.  
  
He quietly padded to the bathroom for a shower, and briefly regretted that it would wash away Billy's scent that seemed to permeate his skin right now. When he came out of the bathroom, Billy was sitting on the bed tying his shoes. "I didn't mean to wake you," he told the blond as he dried his hair.  
  
Bill smiled up at him, "I was already awake, three years on Phaedos makes one a light sleeper." Standing up, Bill leaned into Tommy and kissed him rather seriously. Tommy felt his body beginning to respond to the kiss and reconsidered his decision about being late. Bill pulled out of the kiss and smiled at him. "Besides, I have a few things I need to do this morning, and an early start won't hurt me."  
  
"Bill, it's five-twenty on a Sunday morning. What can you get done at this time?"  
  
"I can meet Jase for an early breakfast and he and I can talk," Billy told him. The tone of worry in Billy's voice disturbed Tommy.  
  
"You haven't cleared Jase yet?" Tommy couldn't believe that his best friend was the traitor.  
  
Billy shook his head, "No. I've managed to reconnect all the Ninja Rangers to their spirit animals except Aisha. The fact that she's in Africa makes that a little difficult, and also tends to make her less of a suspect." The look of worry on his face increased, "But, I'm unsure of how to go about clearing Jason short of kidnapping him and taking him to Phaedos to quest for his spirit animal."  
  
Tommy chuckled at that until he realized that Billy was absolutely serious, "I don't think that would be a good idea Billy." He leaned back, "Look I know that you and Jase are close, and I know how much this is hurting you, but it's part of your job. It's not a nice part, but it's a part that has to be done." He reached out and put a hand on his lover's shoulder, "I know you'll figure out some way to make it work. You always do." He leaned in and kissed him lightly on the lips  
  
"Is that what you and Jase felt like when you led the team?" Billy asked. "Not always liking what had to be done, but doing it anyway because it's your job?"  
  
Tommy nodded and answered, "That about sums it up." He then quickly added, "It sucks doesn't it."  
  
Billy shook his head and smiled mischievously, "No, I suck. This gnaws." Then he grumbled to himself, "I never understood why people used the term for something so pleasant to describe something unpleasant. Of course up until last night I had absolutely zero experience with it either way."  
  
Tommy laughed at his lover, "You do have a way with words, Cranston."  
  
Billy just smiled and headed toward the door. "Could you drop me off at the precinct?"  
  
Before Tommy could answer, his phone rang. Kissing Billy quickly he nodded and picked up the receiver by the bed wondering who would be calling at before six. "Oliver residence, this is Tommy," he said into the receiver.  
  
"Tommy, it's Jason," his best friend's voice replied. "I've got some bad news for you. Justin Stewart is in intensive care at Angel Grove General. He's been beaten pretty badly. He's in a coma."  
  
"When? How?" Tommy asked wondering if this had anything to do with Billy's mission.  
  
"Some time early this morning. We got the call from his dorm roommate who found him in the gym after he never came home last night," Jason told him.  
  
"Are you at the hospital?" Tommy asked.  
  
"No, I'm back at the precinct. I'm getting ready to go off shift and meet Billy for breakfast."  
  
"Bill's with me," Tommy told Jase. "What say you pick him up at the hospital?"  
  
"He stayed with you last night, huh?" Jase teased him. "I wonder how much sleep either of you got."  
  
"Yes, he stayed here last night," he watched the young blond man across the room blush. "You know, we're both over twenty-one and everything. Besides, that's none of your business."  
  
"Just teasing my best Bro, man," Jason said. "I'll meet you at the hospital in about an hour."  
  
"That's cool with me," Tommy said. "I'll see you there."  
  
Tommy looked over at Billy who said, "Justin was the Turbo Blue Ranger?"  
  
Tommy nodded, "How did you know?"  
  
Billy smiled and tapped his ears, "I'm a lot closer to my spirit animal than you are. Wolves have an excellent hearing."  
  
Tommy smiled weakly, "I'll have to remember that." Then looking at his lover her asked, "Do you think this might have anything to do with what you're looking for?"  
  
Billy shrugged, "It sounds like it might, but I don't know for sure. Do you mind if I come along?"  
  
Tommy ushered him from the bedroom, as he picked up his jacket, "I thought you might want to."  
  
It was one of those clear January mornings, when there was just enough cold air blowing off the cold Pacific to be chilly. Tommy put an arm around Billy as much for emotional comfort as physical. Justin had been like a little brother to him, and he always felt just a little responsible for getting him involved with the Rangers in the first place. Now, he was worried that that involvement might have brought him into danger long after he stopped being a Ranger. Billy looked down at the arm and snuggled closer as they walked along the path to the drive.  
  
Suddenly the world exploded into thousands of points of light as something hard and heavy slammed into the back of his head. Rolling forward, Tommy used the momentum from the blow to come back up and spin around facing the attacker. To his horror, there were at least half a dozen of them; half of them were swarming all over Billy and the other half charging him. Built like putties, but more massive and their jet skin broken by what appeared as silver and blue circuitry, these creatures reminded Tommy of something from cyberspace on steroids.  
  
Old habits die hard and even Tommy was surprised how easily he was able to slip back into fighting mode. As the first one charged him head on, he snap kicked it in the groin and prepared for a follow up punch to the head, only to miss. It didn't curl collapse over as a creature made of flesh and blood would. Instead, it was like kicking concrete, and as he snapped his foot back he felt the force of the blow reverberate up and down his lower leg. Out of habit, he glanced off to the side to check on Billy, only to discover that the former Blue Ranger was having as little success as he was in dealing with these things.  
  
Two more closed with him from the front and he was force to deal with the situation at hand and hope that Jason was correct about Billy's fighting ability improving over the last few years. Every punch was like hitting a solid wall, every kick felt like it was going to break his leg, and they still came at him. Tommy suddenly found himself very much on the defensive, as he and Billy were forced back against the wall of his house.  
  
Ducking a vicious blow to his head, he heard the wall of his home collapse as the attacking creature punched through the brick behind where his face just was. _This is not good! Nothing seems to be able to stop them! It's like fighting statues or something!_ Then he remembered another time he fought creatures made of stone, and an idea came to him. If only he could get into the clear!  
  
Leaping with all his might, Tommy used the shoulders of the two in front of him to go into a handstand and propel himself up and over them. Coming down on the other side of the attackers, he smiled to himself when he realized that Billy had performed a similar maneuver and was standing beside him. The former Blue Ranger winked at him and said, "Just like old times huh?"  
  
Tommy smiled and nodded back, "Let's do it." Sending his mind out he felt himself reconnect with the Great Power as he called to the sky, "Ninjetti White Falcon!" Suddenly, he felt the old Power flow through him again, as he was once again garbed in the fighting gi of a Ninjetti Adept. Glancing over, he saw Billy wearing his old Blue costume as well. It felt good, even better than the Red Turbo and Zeo Powers.  
  
It didn't take the attackers long to recover and regroup. Setting for the charge the cyber-warriors suddenly made- he wondered if they ever learned a different attack form- Tommy crescent kicked the lead attacker in the floating ribs and followed up with a spinning back kick. This time he felt the concrete crumble under the blow.  
  
Off to the side, he watched as Billy turned a pressing block into a wrist lock, and then a hammer fist to his assailant's elbow. He quickly followed up with a knife hand to the throat, and a palm heel strike to the face. As his target reeled from the force of the blow, Billy reached behind it's neck with both hands and pulled it's face down into a devastating knee strike. As his hands came away with a small piece of circuitry embedded in the back of the creature's neck the assailant dissolved into an arc of electricity and a puff of burning ozone.  
  
Billy looked down at the shorted circuitry in his hands and then smiled up at Tommy saying, "There's a control board at the base of their skulls. A sufficient amount of force applied directly to it, and they should dissolve like putties."  
  
Tommy nodded and smiled behind the Ninjetti mask. "In other words, hit 'em in the back of the head!" Tommy replied as he sidestepped another attack and delivered a hammer fist to the back of its head. He felt a strong surge of relief as the creature dissolved like Billy's.  
  
"Precisely," Billy said as he closed with another attacker.  
  
From that point forward, the fight although still very difficult, became more manageable. A good ten minutes later, they were standing in Tommy's side yard willing the Ninjetti costume away as the sun was rising in the East. "Do you think this has anything to do with the Justin's attack?" Tommy asked.  
  
"I can't be certain at this minute, but at this time the probability of that being an accurate assessment is very high," Billy smiled at him and said, "Why don't we go talk to Jase about Justin." 


	10. Conversation at the Intergalactic House ...

***************************************************************  
  
Rocky sat by the bed and watched the kid- no he was a young man now- lying so still. The steady rhythm of the breathing tube was the only indication of life that his protégé was showing. For the hundredth time he mentally kicked himself for getting Justin involved with the Power Rangers in the first place. He heard someone enter the room but didn't look up- he didn't have to- something deep inside told him it was Billy and Tommy.  
  
For long moments, they just stood there, as if reluctant to break the peace of the room. Finally, he felt a hand on his shoulder, as Tommy squatted next to him on the floor. "It doesn't look good, Bro," Rocky told him. "The doctor's say that there's probably. . .. , " he fought to say the words, ". . . , brain damage." The idea of a brain as brilliant as Justin's being damaged beyond repair was worse than him being dead. "They don't even know what's keeping him alive." Looking over to where Billy was studying the medical chart on the wall, he said, "Do you think this might have something to do with who ever it is that Billy's looking for?"  
  
Tommy shook his head, "I don't know Bro, but I promise you this much: We'll find out who's responsible. If Jase doesn't find them- which isn't likely, he's damn good at his job- then I will. Justin is important to me too."  
  
"Thanks man," Rocky told him. "I'm sure he'd appreciate it."  
  
Billy walked over and put a hand on Rocky's shoulder, "I'm sorry, Rocky. I'm not sure there's much that can be done." He gave Tommy a strange look and asked, "Has anyone contacted his family yet?"  
  
Rocky looked up at Billy, "No. His dad is out of the country right now."  
  
Billy nodded; squeezed Rocky's shoulder and said, "I'm really sorry, Rocky. I wish there was something I could do." He then quietly left the room.  
  
Rocky smiled and watched Billy leave the room. The man had always been hard to read; now he was simply impossible. Then remembering that Adam had told him that Billy and Tommy had a date last night he asked, "How're things with him going?"  
  
Tommy grinned broadly and blushed. Rocky got the impression that something rather significant had occurred. Tommy told him, "Let's just say sweet, and leave it at that."  
  
"At least something is going good right now," Rocky told his friend. Even with Justin being stuck in the hospital close to death, he was glad to see that his former leader was finally getting his head together about a few things.  
  
"Yeah, but right now we need to figure out what we can do for Justin," Tommy said. "Billy and I can wait a little while longer."  
  
Rocky smiled at him weakly, "Just don't wait too long, Bro. He may get tired of it."  
  
Tommy looked toward the door through which Billy had disappeared and said, "Somehow I don't think so. Jason tells me that Zordon called him wise and patient. I think that's pretty accurate."  
  
Rocky chuckled, "Don't put too much stock in that. Remember, Dulcea called me smart, or was it intelligent?"  
  
Tommy patted his knee. Coming from any other man Rocky knew to be gay, he'd probably slugged them, but he knew that Tommy only meant it as a gesture of comfort. "Somehow I don't think that's too far off. I think you just do a really good job of hiding it." He checked his watch, "Look, I've got to get to the track. I'm leaving Billy here to meet Jase. Would you mind keeping an eye out for him in case Jason doesn't show? You know, make sure he gets home okay."  
  
Rocky smiled, "Will do."  
  
"And Rocky?" Tommy said. "Be careful. Billy and I were attacked by some new kind of creatures on our way over here this morning. They're tough, but they've got a weak spot at the base of their skulls. Try not to go out by yourself, and keep an eye open. One friend in the hospital is one too many."  
  
Rocky smiled, "Will do 'Oh Fearless Leader."  
  
********  
  
Jason watched as Billy exited of the hospital room with a contemplative look on his face. He'd seen him look that way many times before; usually when there was something about a situation that didn't add up. "What's up, Bro?" At first Billy didn't hear him, so he reached out and touched him on the shoulder before asking again, "Billy, is there something wrong?"  
  
Billy looked over at him, as if suddenly realizing that he was there. "Oh, I'm sorry Jase. I was thinking." A strange scent that Jase couldn't quite place permeated the air around his old friend. It wasn't unpleasant- on the contrary, it was pleasantly familiar- he just couldn't place it.  
  
"Obviously, Bro," Jason teased, "Want to tell me what has you so deep in thought."  
  
Billy just shook his head, "Maybe later." Then, he seemed to have remembered something and he asked, "Jase?"  
  
"Yeah, Bro?"  
  
"After my dad died, who moved the stuff out of my lab into storage?" he asked. The tone of Billy's voice told Jason it was important.  
  
Jason thought about it. That was well after he'd given up the Gold Powers and during his convalescence. He remembered helping Tommy and the other Rangers with the rather sad job of cleaning out the Cranston home to get it ready for sale. It had been a major low point in his life, reminding him of just how many people he'd lost in his life of late. "Let's see, I was there, kind of directing things. I think the whole team helped, even Rocky who was getting over his injury. There was him, Tommy, Adam, Tanya, and Kat. Oh yeah, Justin was there too. He and Tommy took care of your lab. Tommy wanted somebody who knew what the stuff was before he put it in storage." He looked at his oldest friend, and wasn't sure if he liked what he saw in his eyes. He asked, "Why?"  
  
"You were there, then?" Billy asked.  
  
"Yeah Bro, I was there, though I wasn't in much shape to do anything. I was still pretty weak from what the Gold Powers had done to me." Jason answered carefully. He stopped and thought about how strange Billy had been acting lately. Wondered what had brought him back to Earth. "Why? What's up Billy? Does this have anything to do with the Rangers?"  
  
Billy just shook his head, "I don't know Jase, I honestly don't know." He smiled up at Jase, "Tell you what, let me buy you breakfast and we'll discuss it."  
  
Jason smiled and said, "You're on," he grinned at his friend and asked, "How 'bout the Intergalactic House of Pancakes?" He used their old junior high term for their favorite breakfast restaurant.  
  
Billy just grinned and replied as they headed back toward Justin's room. "Just let me tell Tommy and Rocky I'm leaving, and IHOP it is!"  
  
Jase followed Billy into the room to see Tommy talking quietly to Justin. He nodded to the former team leader and said, "Billy and I are going for some breakfast. I'll give you a call later if I find out anything else about the case."  
  
Tommy nodded to Jase and said, "Sure thing, Bro."  
  
Jase watched as Billy approached Tommy and said hesitantly, "I'll call you later at the track." Jason realized that Billy was unsure of how to act around their friends now that the two had seemed to reach some sort of understanding.  
  
Tommy nodded to him as he gently reached out and cupped the former Blue Ranger's face, "That sounds good. You'll have to come by sometime and meet my crew."  
  
"We'll talk about that," Billy said. Then, cautiously he said, "Tommy. . .?" Jase was touched by the gentle tenderness the two were using to skirt around each other. He watched his two best friends get lost in each other's eyes.  
  
"Yeah?" Tommy replied with almost as much trepidation.  
  
"Oh kiss him good-bye already, and get it over with," Rocky interrupted, breaking the spell of the moment.  
  
"Rocky DeSantos, you're a bounder," Billy said.  
  
"No, I'm just tired of watching you two tip-toe around each other. Just kiss him and you and Jason get out of here," Rocky said.  
  
Billy gave Rocky as smirk worthy of Kim and turned back to Tommy expectantly. Before anything else could be said, Tommy pulled Billy into a kiss. Jase found himself touched by the emotion behind such a small gesture. Tommy had always been sort of a tragic figure, never quite able to find happiness- until now. Billy on the other hand, had always been the quiet researcher, timid when it came to romance. Now he was getting his heart's greatest desire, and Jason found himself just a little jealous of his "Little Bro", for it.  
  
"Now, that's more like it," Rocky said grinning.  
  
**********************************  
  
Half an hour later, Jase and Billy were seated in their favorite booth waiting for their order. Jase ventured, "So, I take it you and Tommy are finally getting your heads straight."  
  
Billy blushed and said, "Straight isn't exactly the word I'd use Jase."  
  
Jason smiled, "You know what I mean, Billy. Are you two finally connecting the way you should?"  
  
Billy smiled, "Actually, it's going much better than I ever dreamed it could. I never had an inkling that Tommy might feel the same way about me as I did him."  
  
"You both are good at hiding your feelings," Jase replied. "Add in interstellar distances, and you guys almost made what is supposed to be never happen."  
  
Billy smiled and looked up from his coffee, but his voice had a much more serious tone, "What do you know about supposed-to-bes, Jason?"  
  
Jason put his cup down. It was time for him and Billy to lay their cards on the table. "I know that your coming back from Phaedos isn't a happy coincidence. I know that there's something going on with the former Rangers that you haven't shared with me yet." Jase wasn't going let Billy get away with thinking that he hadn't noticed what was going on. "Outside of that you've managed to leave me pretty much in the dark."  
  
Billy sighed and put down his coffee cup. "Let me ask you a question Jase. Have you ever had a case where you desperately wanted to clear a suspect, but didn't know how? I don't mean couldn't find any evidence to prove them innocent, I mean not knowing how to do it."  
  
Jason smiled, and answered, "No. My job is usually to find evidence to prove them guilty. But at least you WANT to believe I'm innocent." Jason realized that Billy was talking about him. His IQ may not start with a two, but he wasn't stupid either.  
  
Billy's voice became very soft, "That's because you're one of my closest friends, Jase, and when I find the person I'm looking for, one of us is very likely not to walk away from the conflict." The tone in Billy's voice was very serious.  
  
Jason was shocked at what Billy was saying. "If they've committed a crime, then let the police do their job. Billy, you can't take the law into your own hands. Don't do something that's going to make me have to come after you. If you do, then WE are going to come into conflict. I can't sit by and let you kill somebody, even if it is Ranger business."  
  
"Jase I wish it were that easy. Somebody has been assassinating Rangers off planet, using Earth Ranger technology and the Morphin' Grid to get around. The only people who have access to that are former Rangers. How am I supposed to explain that to the police?" He sighed, "So far ten alien Rangers and two Earth Space Rangers has been murdered. I have to stop it now, before the Master Warriors take things into their own hands."  
  
"What Earth Space Rangers?" Jason asked.  
  
Billy sighed and replied, "Andros, and Zhane."  
  
Jason felt like he'd been hit in the gut. He'd only met the Red Space Ranger a few times, but liked the guy a great deal. He reminded Jason a lot of himself. "When? How? Where?"  
  
"They accessed the Morphin' Grid, teleported in, evidently caught them asleep and killed both. Dulcea managed to find out that whoever was responsible collected a rather hefty bounty on their heads."  
  
"There are bounties on Ranger's heads?" Jason asked.  
  
"Let's just say that Zed wasn't the only big bad evil out there in the universe, and several of them are more than willing to pay someone else to alleviate their problems." Billy made little quotation marks with his fingers to emphasize the last word. "Dulcea has given me one month to find and deal with the traitor. After that, the Master Warriors will move in and deal with all the former Earth Rangers as if we're guilty."  
  
"Not you too?" Jason asked. "I mean, you've been on Phaedos for the past two years."  
  
Billy nodded, "Me too. They're using some support technology I developed while on Earth. I'm just as much a suspect as any of the rest of you guys." He leaned back, "Besides, do you think I'd let them try and take you guys without a fight?"  
  
Billy sat quietly while Jason considered what he'd told him. Finally, he asked, "So how do you clear someone when you don't know how?"  
  
He thought about Billy's question as their food arrived. Finally, after the waiter left he said, "I don't know, Billy. I realize you can't share what you're looking for until you've cleared me, but I can't really tell you how to do that unless I know what you know- which you can't tell me in case I am the person you're looking for."  
  
"Exactly," Billy said as he tore into his breakfast with a fervor that would have made Rocky proud.  
  
"Do you have any idea what the weapon used was?" Jason asked.  
  
Billy nodded, "You remember that laser I developed, not long after Tommy came on the team?"  
  
"The one he used from inside that creature?" Jason asked.  
  
"Yeah."  
  
"The one YOU invented?"  
  
Billy nodded. "That's not the only piece of my former equipment he or she's used. Now you see why I have to find the killer. They're using my technology to kill other Rangers. I'm responsible."  
  
Jason listened to what his friend had to say. "I don't know what to tell you Billy- except that you're not responsible. They may have stolen your equipment, but that doesn't make you responsible for their actions- they are. We'll find them, and we'll fix it."  
  
"How, Jason?" Billy asked.  
  
Jason shook his head. "I don't know. But we'll put our heads together and figure it out." Jason took a bite of his omelet. "Now eat your breakfast." Then realizing what smell he detected on Billy earlier was, he decided to try and lighten the atmosphere some by asking, "Why do you smell like chocolate?"  
  
He watched as Billy turned crimson. 


	11. Arrested!

AUTHOR'S NOTE:  
  
Thank you all for the wonderful feedback, and even the threats. (wink) I'm sorry this took so long, but I've gotten tied up with trying to put together a D20 Vampire game so my time is suddenly spent with my head in WotC products. Danny ************************************************************  
  
Kim felt more than saw the attack coming. The creatures came out of the blue, literally dropping on them from above, as she and Adam walked through the small alleyway separating her apartment from the next building. Kim felt something slam into her like a truckload of bricks. She rolled forward with the momentum the blow imparted to her, turned it into a front handspring, landed and twisted to face whatever had hit her.  
  
They were huge humanoids with jet-black skin broken by electric blue lines that seemed to run circuit-like along its surface. Their faces were formless with only two slight indentations where their eyes should have been, no mouth, and a slight protuberance for noses. More freakish than their visage was the eerie high-pitched keening that they made. It was spookier than the gobbling noises the putties used to make.  
  
Two had Adam pinned against the wall with a third getting ready to pound him, while two more advanced on her position. "Oh, no. Aren't you guys supposed to go after the present Ranger team now?" She front-kicked one of them where it should have done the most good and felt the jarring impact of her foot against something with the consistency of reinforced concrete as the creature lunged at her.  
  
Realizing that her kick had been ineffective, she took the better part of valor, ran up the creature's outstretched arm, and leaped over the other's head in a front aerial. Coming down on her feet behind the one about to pound Adam, she side kicked it in the small of the back, sending it reeling into one of the others holding Adam's arm. "No, no, no. No messing with my man, this one's a keeper," she grabbed Adam by the arm and yanked him away from the last creature holding him. "Get your own frog to play with. This one's mine."  
  
Adam gave her a quick peck on the lips, saying, "Thanks," and then front kicked one that was charging up behind her. The look on his face told her that his kick had been about as effective as her own. "I think this calls for just a little of the old Ninjetti touch." Kim could see his grin fade behind the black mask that appeared on his face. Kim always had liked him in black. Without thinking, she too reached out with her mind to the Crane, and felt its Power flow through her. She had very little time however to enjoy the feeling, as the fight closed around them again.  
  
Even with their Ninjetti powers, these creatures were tough; tougher than any putty she'd ever fought. It was like kicking concrete and punching brick- with about as much effect. She watched out of the corner of her eye while one tried to keep up with the Adam's bouncing form, as he literally leapt from the ground, to bounce off one wall, then another to finally come spinning around in a flying kick that caught one of his pursuers in the back of the head. There was the satisfyingly crunch as it dissolved into sand and bits of plastic. "Yech!" Adam commented, "They're worse than cogs."  
  
Realizing that Adam had discovered a weakness, Kim glanced over at the two closing with her, slapped them good and hard upside the head, and turned and ran full tilt toward the back wall of the alley where the gate leading to parking lot was. As the two followed, she ran up the wall, leapt backwards to grab a pipe running overhead, and twisted herself around the bar to build momentum before going up into a hand-stand. Taking careful aim, she folded her body inward and pulled her toes back, to expose the balls of her feet, just before they slammed into the back of each of her attacker's skulls. Again, there was a satisfying crunch as the two dissolved into more sand and plastic. She grinned behind her Ninjetti mask, as she landed in a crouch "I always did love the uneven bars."  
  
Looking over, she saw a creature grab at Adam, as he leap-frogged over its head. Landing in a low crouch, the former Black Ranger sprang up into a double sidekick that sent one of the attackers to the pavement, and the other crumbling. Before it could recover Kim almost casually axe kicked it in the back of the head, watching it too dissolve.  
  
Adam came running up to her, "You okay?"  
  
She nodded at him, grinning like a fool through her mask. "That was fun."  
  
Adam pulled down his own mask and pushed the hood of his Ninjetti costume back before saying, "There was something missing from it though. It just didn't seem right."  
  
Kim smiled and pushed her own hood back, and pulled the mask off. "I know what it was," she told him still grinning.  
  
"What?" Adam asked.  
  
"I wasn't screaming for Tommy to rescue me," she said, taking his arm and willing her Ninjetti costume away.  
  
"More importantly, you weren't screaming for me to rescue you either. Actually, you were rather impressive," Adam said. "But then again, you always have been." He stopped and looked at Kim, his eyes shining seriously, "Do you think this has anything to do with what Billy's after?"  
  
Kim nodded, "I'm certain of it. We've been reconnected to our spirit animals for less than two days and we're already attacked. I think this has everything to do with the rogue Ranger."  
  
She held his arm tighter, as Adam mused, "Those things were tough though. I just hope that Billy can handle them."  
  
"I get the feeling that Billy's not going to be handling them alone," she told him looking around. "I know Tommy's got his back," she saw a look of mischief in his eyes and cut him off with a playful warning, "-and don't you dare say what I know you're thinking."  
  
Adam gave her an innocent grin that wasn't quite convincing, "What? All I was going to say was that Tommy's probably got his backside too." He ducked out of the way of the jab she threw at him.  
  
"I think we should call Billy and let him know we were attacked," Kimberly told her boyfriend.  
  
His countenance grew serious, "I think maybe you're right."  
  
********************************************************  
  
Billy followed Jason into the house, wondering what he was going to go about finding the assassin. Between the attack on himself and Tommy earlier this morning; and Justin being hospitalized he realized that he had to move fast before other former Rangers became targets as well. He also was worried about exactly what was missing from his lab- there was some technology there, that he really didn't want to fall into the wrong hands. Some of his experiments had delved into areas that the US government was just now getting around to regulating if not outright banning.  
  
He was also worried about clearing his best friend. Although, their talk over breakfast had eased his mind somewhat, it still wasn't the empirical evidence he needed to convince the Master Warriors of the former Ranger's innocence. Looking down, he checked his watch- not quite eight a.m. yet. Tommy had been right, there really wasn't a whole lot he could do right now so he forced himself to relax and enjoy his time back on Earth.  
  
"So," Jase asked as he wearily sat down on the sofa of the den, "I take it things are going well with Tommy."  
  
Billy smiled as the memories of last evening washed over him like a warm wave, "I never had a clue that he might reciprocate my feelings for him."  
  
"I take it that means yes," Jase said.  
  
"Affirmative," Billy grinned as he sat in the chair next to the sofa.  
  
"So, what do you plan to do after you find the assassin?" Jase asked neutrally.  
  
Billy thought about his friend's question for a moment, "I hadn't given it much consideration. My healing on Phaedos is nearly complete. I'd like to return home, and move on to graduate school."  
  
"Whoa there," Jase asked, "Don't you need to finish your undergraduate degree first?"  
  
Billy grinned at him, "What do you think I was doing by correspondence while working in the Command Center?"  
  
"You finished your undergraduate degree in a year?" Jason asked.  
  
Billy nodded, "I had enough credits to graduate high school by my sophomore year. My last two years were all college credit classes. It wasn't that hard to finish the degree between maintenance on the 'zords."  
  
"Any idea where you might want to go?" Jase asked, again his voice was neutral.  
  
Billy shook his head, "Anywhere with a good science program, I guess."  
  
"And what are you planning to do about Tommy while you do this?" Jason asked.  
  
Billy stopped and listened to his friend, not just his words, but also his tone. "Are you worried that this might be some kind of fling for me, Jase?"  
  
"I don't know, Bill," Jase told him. "You two both are so quiet about how you feel about things, it's hard to read you."  
  
"Jase, I've loved Tommy since I first laid eyes on him. I kept quiet while he dated one of my closest friends, because I didn't want to lose his friendship. Now that I have him in my life in the manner I've always desired, I'm not going to relinquish him quite that easily." He leaned back and sighed, "As for my plans for school and life in general, they will include Tommy as a primary component for as long as it is his desire to be so."  
  
"What about HIS career?" Jase asked. "Can you deal with being part of the background there? I mean, NASCAR drivers do have a certain reputation you know."  
  
"Jase, are you talking about the idea of him being unfaithful, or of it becoming common knowledge that he's involved in a homosexual relationship, and what that might do to his career?"  
  
Jason shrugged, "Both I guess. I love both you guys like brothers, and I don't want to see either one of you hurt."  
  
"Well, I trust Tommy," Billy told Jason, "and if he needs me to fade into the background, I can do that." He chuckled, "Let's face it, it's not like I've ever really been all that noticeable before, anyway."  
  
"Yeah, but you deserve more than just being in the background, Billy. You've been in the background all your life. You deserve to be noticed, and I'm sure Tommy wouldn't want to keep you from being noticed," Jase told him.  
  
"I'm happy the way I am, Jase. Besides, being noticed for what I've accomplished is very different from being noticed for whom I love. I don't want Tommy's career to suffer because I'm there."  
  
"That doesn't quite seem fair," Jase told him.  
  
"Life's not fair, Jase. If it were, I wouldn't have aged rapidly. If were, there would have been six Zeo Crystals instead of five. If it were, Trini would still be alive. I can cope with this little thing, as long as I know that he loves me as much as I love him," Billy told Jason.  
  
Before Jason could say anything the doorbell rang. "Wonder who that is," Jason said as he went to answer the door.  
  
A few minutes later, Billy heard the voice of Jason's partner, Jack, "Jason, I'm really sorry about this."  
  
"What?" Jason asked.  
  
"I'm going to have to ask you to come down to station to answer some questions. We got a DNA match to the skin found under the Stewart kid's fingernails. It was yours. I'm afraid I'm having to place you under arrest, for attempted murder." 


	12. Murder Most Foul

* * *

  
  
"He's been what!?" Tommy's voice came over the receiver, forcing Billy to pull it away from his ear.  
  
"According to Jason's partner, the skin samples found under Justin's fingernails matched Jason's DNA. Currently he's answering questions with his lawyer at the police station," Billy told Tommy.   
  
"It can't be Jase!" Tommy said. "I don't believe it."  
  
Billy shook his head and sighed. Although if the detective was right, all the evidence pointed toward Jason being the assassin, but something in his gut told him that this wasn't the case. "I tend to concur. There is something about the situation that doesn't quite make sense at this time. I feel like I'm missing a crucial piece of data."  
  
"I would have thought he'd be on the top of your list," Tommy said carefully, and Billy suddenly got the feeling that he was walking on dangerous ground with his newfound lover.  
  
"He was, up until I saw Justin this morning. There was something there that didn't make sense, and I can't quite figure out what it is." He shook his head, "I need my lab."  
  
"Then get the stuff out of storage and set it up in my basement. I don't mind. I've got plenty of room, and I'll do anything it takes to clear Jason," Tommy told him.  
  
"So I'm not alone in thinking Jason can't be the assassin?" Billy asked.  
  
Tommy chuckled into the receiver, "I don't think you'll be able to find a single person in Angel Grove that believes Jason is guilty of murder."  
  
Billy smiled, "Good, that will make my endeavors that much easier." Billy could sense a hesitancy from Tommy over the phone, "What is it, Tom?"  
  
  
"I was just wondering… ," Tommy began. For a moment, Billy considered asking him about what, but decided to let Tom finish on his own before interrupting. "I was wondering, how you were feeling about staying at my house for a while?" He quickly added, "Just until you can get a place of your own."  
  
Billy smiled into the telephone and then answered, "I think I would like that Tommy. Thanks."  
  
"Good, you can bring your stuff over tonight then," Tommy's voice sounded lighter.  
  
"That may take a little while, Love," Billy told him. "I'm going to be focused on getting some equipment from storage set up for the investigation. I've got a lot of boxes to go through."  
  
"Okay. Just keep in mind that you're welcome to stay as long as you want."  
  
Billy caught himself smiling when he answered, "Be careful with comments like that. After last night, I'm afraid you're going to see much more of me than you might want."  
  
He could almost sense Tommy's grin through the line, "I don't think I can ever not want to see you Bill. There's been a hole in my life since you left. I don't think I want you anywhere where I can't put my hands on you quickly."  
  
"You can put your hands anywhere you want," Billy grinned as he continued, "any time you want."  
  
"That's the whole idea." Tommy snickered back into the phone. "Listen, I need to get off here. Keep me updated on Jase, and let me know if he needs help making bail."  
  
Billy smiled, "Will do, but I don't think he's been arrested yet- they're just asking him questions for now."  
  
"Okay," Tommy said. "I'll see you at the house later." Before Billy could hang up, he added, "I love you Billy."  
  
"I Love you too, Tommy. I always have, and I always will." Billy told him.  


* * *

  
  
Zack whistled quietly to himself as he walked through the lobby of the hotel where he was staying. It was almost ten in the morning and he was just getting in from a night of major league partying. It had been a long but very enjoyable Saturday night, and he had to admit that he really missed Angel Grove and his friends here. Being a part of the State Department meant that he couldn't allow himself to party like he really enjoyed. Somehow, he got the feeling that Secretary Powell wouldn't approve of the junior attaché to the German Embassy dancing on the tables of a bar in Berlin like he could here.  
  
He couldn't help but smile at the thought of how well this whole trip home had turned out. Tommy and Billy were finally getting their act together and realizing just how much they were meant for each other. Jason had finally made peace with who he was, and had found a niche for himself, and in general all was well with the world.  
  
As he reached the elevator, he heard a familiar voice call his name. "Zack, my main man!" Jase called from one of the large overstuffed chairs surrounding the lobby.   
  
Turning he saw Jason walking toward him, with a strange smile on his face. At first, he didn't recognize his old friend, dressed as he was in a blue polo shirt and a pair of jeans. "Hey Jase, what's up?"  
  
Zack never saw the first blow coming. One minute he was standing there with his arms out to his side, the next he found himself bent over a sucker-punch to the stomach. Suddenly, the world lit up around him as the former Red Ranger's fist slammed into the side of his face, and he felt himself thrown to the ground.   
  
Rolling with the blow, he came to his feet shaking his head in time to see Jason closing the distance between them. He didn't have time to think about what was happening, he was in too much shock at being attacked by one of his oldest friends. "What the hell's going on buddy?" he demanded as he went into a defensive stance, bouncing lightly on the balls of his feet. Reaching up he wiped the blood from the corner of his mouth, where Jase's fist had hit. Zack knew he was in trouble- Jason Scott is one of the finest martial artist he'd ever been privileged to know, and beating him was not going to be easy.  
  
"Poor Zack, too stupid to even become cognizant of what just hit him in the mouth," Jason said, and then swung wildly at his head.  
  
"Huh?" Zack asked as he easily blocked the punch and countered with a quick kick to the former Ranger's groin.  
  
Zack had never expected the kick to land, much less for the bigger man to doubled over from the attack. Without thinking, he followed up with a quick jab to the side of Jason's head. "What's this all about Jason?" Zack demanded as Jason collapsed to the floor groaning.  
  
For long moments, the former Black Ranger stood over his old friend wondering what new madness this was. Finally, a voice not entirely Jason's came from the form on the floor, "It's about power, Zachary. It's about respect, and making sure that I get it for now on."  
  
Neither Zack, nor the hotel clerk who came to check on the disturbance, ever saw what hit them. Two quick bursts from a hidden laser and both men collapsed to the ground, a neat hole burned through their brains.   
  
Ten minute's later, a hotel guest came down to the lobby to find the decapitated body of the former Black Ranger lying on the floor in a spreading pool of blood and the hotel clerk slumped against the wall.   


* * *

  
  
  
It had not been a pleasant morning for Jason Scott. He'd spent several hours answering questions about where he was last night and with whom. Fortunately, his partner, Jack could verify his whereabouts for most of the night, and there were at least a half a dozen witnesses who could corroborate Jack's testimony. Jason was confused and concerned that his DNA had showed up under Justin's fingernails. He even went so far as to agree to a medical body search to prove he had no such scratches.  
  
After several hours of answering the same questions repeatedly- Jase recognized the same tactic he'd used several times on suspects- and the rather demeaning strip search, he was beginning to give up hope. Out of nowhere, a beat-cop had come in, and pulled the Captain aside. Ten minutes later, the Captain came back in and asked him point blank, "Jason, you don't happen to have a twin brother do you?"  
  
Jason looked up at him in surprise, "No sir. I'm an only child."  
  
Captain Fox shook his head and said, "Okay. Sit down. This case just fell into Federal Jurisdiction, and I've got some bad news for you." The older man had a sad look on his face, and Jason was worried. Captain Fox had been like a mentor to Jason, and his tone was more of what he'd expect from his father trying to soften some kind of blow.  
  
"What's going on Captain?" Jase asked, hoping the worry in his voice didn't sound through. This week had turned weird really quick- weirder than anything he'd ever faced as a Ranger- even weirder than Rita's pig that tried to eat their weapons.  
  
"You have a friend who worked for the State Department don't you- a Zachary Taylor?" Fox asked.  
  
Suddenly Jason felt his blood run cold. "Yes sir. He's assigned to the German Embassy. He's home on leave for sort of a school reunion," Jason replied.  
  
"I'm afraid he's been murdered," Fox told him.   
  
"How? Why?" Jason asked.  
  
"I think you should see the security tape. We've already checked the time stamp, and that's accurate." Fox got up and opened the door for him.  
  
Five minutes later Jason watched in horror as he coldly attacked Zack and then murdered the former Black Ranger. When it was over, all he could do was sit in the chair supplied for him, feeling a deep sense of loss. Finally, he looked up, "Captain, I didn't do it. Zack has been one of my best friends since we were in second grade. I'd sooner cut my own arm off than hurt him."  
  
"We know you didn't do it, Jason," Captain Fox told him. "According to the time stamp on the security camera- which know is accurate- this happened while you were downstairs being examined by the physician. Whoever did this looks amazingly like you, Jason- so much so that your friend thought it was you." He put a comforting hand on Jase's shoulder and said, "Look, I know that you had some contact with the Power Rangers when you were in high school- and that weapon looks like something they would have. Do you think it might have anything to do with them?"  
  
Jase felt his heart drop into his shoes. He shook his head, and lied, "I don't know. I'll ask around if you want." Right now, he felt like his world was crumbling. Billy had told him that somebody had been killing Rangers, but somehow he didn't think it was going to hit this close to home.  
  
Captain Fox sighed, "It's been a long day for you. Why don't you go home and get some sleep. Take a couple of days off- hell, I'm sure the department will put you on administrative leave until this is cleared up anyway."  
  
Jason stood and nodded. Feeling like his world had been just shot out from under him, he left the station and headed home.  
  
  
  
  
  



	13. That which is impossible must be true

Tommy noted the door to his basement was propped open and he could hear the sounds of rummaging around through it. After hearing the news about Zack, his mind suddenly raced with dark thoughts. What if it's the traitor? Am I next on the target list? What about Billy, he's supposed to be here now? Is he safe?  
  
Without thinking, he charged through the door ready for a fight, only to find a flustered looking Billy cursing silently to himself as he searched through a box. He looked exhausted- like he'd been going full-out for several hours. His hair was in disarray, his clothes dirt and dust covered and there were several nasty scrapes along the insides of his forearms. After last night though, the sight of him- even all mussed- still sent shivers down Tommy's spine. Tommy looked around the room and realized that there were at least two dozen or so opened boxes scattered around the basement, and various pieces of scientific equipment sitting in piles. "Billy? Are you all right?" Tommy asked.  
  
Billy looked up at him somewhat wild-eyed, "No, I'm not all right! One Ranger has died and another is in the hospital, and it was supposed to be my job to stop it from happening!" He shook his head and leaned heavily against workbench, his shoulders shaking in impotent rage, "I'm not doing a very good job at it." He slammed his fist down on a workbench, "And damn it, I can't find all the equipment I left- equipment I need to do my job. Tommy could see tears well up in Billy's eyes.  
  
Picking his way across the maze of boxes and equipment, Tommy pulled the former Blue Ranger into his arms and held him. For long moments, Billy simply melted into him. Tommy whispered into Billy's hair, "I heard about Zack. I'm sorry. I know I didn't know him as long as you did, but he was my friend too."  
  
Billy slowly pulled away from Tommy and wiped his eyes, "I'm sorry, Tommy. I didn't mean to blow up on you like that. It's against my nature."  
  
Tommy smiled at Billy, "It's all right.," he was about to say "Bro", but realized that Billy had long since gone past being a "Bro" so he tried another word on for size, and was surprised at how well it fit ".Love, I understand." Looking around the room- it looked like about the same number of boxes that he and Justin had put into storage, "What's missing?"  
  
Billy shook his head, "Several weapons modules I was working on to deal with Mondo, some genetic replication equipment we confiscated from Rita and Zedd, and of all things one of my failed experiments in creating an artificial alpha wave scrambler."  
  
"Huh," Tommy asked.  
  
Billy smiled and shook his head, "It was before you joined the team. I was trying to create a device that would scramble any of Rita's attempts to mentally control one of us. We gave it one trial run," Billy actually blushed at something, "and then I locked it away so no one else would have difficulty with it."  
  
Tommy asked, "Why? What was wrong with it?"  
  
Billy smiled, "It had certain unexpected side effects." He reached for the glasses that weren't there, "Let's just say that Kim and I got to see how each other lived for a short while?"  
  
Tommy smiled and nodded. He remembered Jason telling him this story when he'd accidentally stuck his foot in his mouth with Kimberly over something- Tommy couldn't even remember what it was now, "You mean the mind switching machine?"  
  
Billy nodded and asked, "I take it you heard about that?"  
  
"Jason told me."  
  
Billy smiled blushing deeply, "Sometimes I wonder if that's why we both are attracted to the same kind of men."  
  
Tommy chuckled, "Maybe it's just because I'm so lovable."  
  
Billy shrugged, "That must be it." Turning back to the mess he'd made in the basement, he continued. "I think one of the weapons modules is what's being used on the Rangers."  
  
Tommy knew Billy enough to realize that he wasn't saying everything he knew. He also knew that if not prodded, Billy would keep things bottled up. Putting his hands on his hips, he gently demanded, "What else?"  
  
Billy shrugged with his back turned to him, "I'm not sure. Something is just not making sense. I can't put my finger on it, but something I've seen today is important. I don't know what it is yet, but it's something I should have recognized as being wrong immediately."  
  
"And that's making you crazy," Tommy offered watching his lover going through a notebook.  
  
"Does it have something to do with Jason?"  
  
Billy shook his head, "No, not really. It was something I saw at the hospital. I just can't ascertain what it actually was."  
  
"So it has something to do with Justin. Since you don't know Justin, it has to be something about what you saw there that has to do with his condition," Tommy told him. Actually, he was rather proud of that bit of logic.  
  
Billy stopped momentarily and considered his words. Tommy could almost see that fantastic brain of his working. Suddenly his eyes lit up, "That's it! You're a genius!" In a very uncharacteristic outburst, Billy grabbed Tommy, kissed him solidly on the mouth and then stood there bouncing like a school boy with a new toy. "Can I borrow your car? I need to get to the hospital."  
  
Tommy just nodded, "Of course. I'll even drive you."  
  
Half an hour later, Tommy watched Billy going through the doctor's chart on the wall next to Justin's very still form. The sight of the former Turbo Ranger lying there so still tugged at his heartstrings. After several minutes, Billy quietly went over and gently inspected the wound on Justin's head before turning and heading out the door. Something in the way Billy was moving sent a chill down Tommy's spine. He stopped, his blue eyes flashing with a grim determination, looked at Tommy and said, "This wasn't Jason, and it wasn't one of the Ninjetti Rangers." He turned toward the door and headed out saying, "I know who did this. Let's go."  
  
Tommy had never seen Billy like this before. Jason had tried to warn him that things weren't exactly the same with the former Blue Ranger, that he had become more confident, but he hadn't expected this kind of take- charge style. He realized that Billy was ready to mount an attack on the Gates of Hell if that was what it took to bring down the traitor, and some part of Tommy was willing to hold his coat for him while he did it. It wasn't something Tommy was used to dealing with from a boy- no, Tommy had to admit to himself that Billy was a man- he'd always considered quiet, and self-effacing. "Who?" he asked chasing after his lover.  
  
Billy stopped and smiled at him. "Think about it Tommy. Experimental weapons modules are missing- modules that were unfinished and required a specific level of technical expertise to complete." He ticked the point off on his little finger, "Then there is the genetic replicating equipment that we took from Rita and Zedd that also requires a greater than normal understanding of science than is commonly experienced today." He ticked off another finger, "Finally, we're missing the mind switching device- not a piece of equipment that one can simply pick up on a quick shopping trip to Radio Shack." He gave Tommy a wry smile, "Who do you know that could operate all three devices?"  
  
"Well, there's Adam. . .,"  
  
"Already cleared," Billy cut him off.  
  
Tommy shook his head and said, "That just leaves Justin, Trini, and Zack,. Trini and Zack are dead, and Justin is in the hospital. It would be impossible for it to be any of them."  
  
Billy smiled, and with his voice pitched slightly lower he said, "An ancestor of mine once maintained that once you have eliminated all possibilities, then the answer must be the impossible."  
  
Tommy got the feeling that he was quoting something, but was unsure what. "That sounds like Sherlock Holmes," he said.  
  
Billy smiled, "Actually, it's Spock quoting Holmes in Undiscovered Country."  
  
"So which impossibility is it?" Tommy asked.  
Sorry I couldn't resist leaving this as a cliffhanger. More to come right after I finish up with the final chapter of Ties That Run Deep.  
  
Danny. 


	14. Revelations

"The one with the scrambled Alpha waves," Billy said. "When I first read Justin's chart, it confused me. There were no solid Alpha readings from the EEG. It didn't make sense. The readings indicated that there was no personality present in the brain. I guess my head was still a little fogged from last night, otherwise I would have caught it immediately."  
  
Tommy smiled at him, "I'm glad I had as much an effect on you as you did on me."   
  
"You've been confusing since I first laid eyes on you Tommy, just last night was a little different. It'll take me a while to get used to it," Billy told him.  
  
"I hope you never get used to it, Billy." Tommy smirked. "But back to what you're saying: You think the killer is Justin then?"  
  
Billy nodded and replied, "It all fits. He cloned what he would have considered a superior body- perhaps even enhanced it."  
  
"Jason," Tommy cut in.  
  
"Can you think of a more fit person?" Billy asked. "He's handsome, strong, swift, and a gifted athlete- all the things that I understand Justin felt he wasn't. Plus, by cloning Jason's body, he could pass the murders off as the work of someone else,"  
  
"What if you're wrong?" Tommy asked.  
  
"If I'm wrong then the murderer has to be Jason, and my instinct tell me that it's not him," Billy replied, his voice reflecting the conviction shining in his eyes.   
  
Tommy found himself once again marveling at the strength his lover was showing. Gone was the timid young scientist that he fell in love with long ago. Standing now in his place was a very self-assured man to whom Tommy suddenly realized he was even more attracted. "You seem positive."  
  
Billy nodded, "I am."  
  
"Then what are you going to do about it?" Tommy hoped the worry wasn't reflected in his voice. The last thing he wanted to do was face the idea of losing Billy now that he'd finally got him in his life where he wanted him.  
  
Billy smiled, his blue eyes sparkling with mischief as he said, "I'm going to step on yours and Jason's toes just a little."  
  
"Huh?" Tommy asked.  
  
"I'm going to reassemble those of us remaining, and," his grin grew even broader, "… kick some Blue Turbo Ranger butt."  
  
Tommy felt himself smile at the thought of going back into action, and he suddenly realized that this time he might not be the team leader. On some level, he realized that he was okay with that idea. This was Billy's mission, and he wouldn't dream of stepping on his toes. "You realized that if you pull this off, you're bucking for a red new wardrobe, don't you?"  
  
Billy simply shook his head, "Not interested in it." He stepped closer and pulled Tommy to him by the waist, grinned hugely and kissed him lightly on the lips, "I just want to get finished with this so we can have some more chocolate sauce."  
  
Tommy kissed him back, feeling it down to his toes. Something about the mixture of scents that permeated through the former Blue Ranger sent a shiver straight to his libido. "With cream filling?" he asked playfully.  
  
Billy blushed and grinned before kissing him again, "Oh yes, lots and lots of cream filling."   
  
"Uh, Billy," Tommy stammered looking around and realizing that no one had seen them, "this is kind of public, you know."  
  
Billy shrugged. "We could take it back to your place," he offered.  
  
Tommy shook his head, "First rule of being team leader: take care of business now- play later."  
  
Billy smiled and gently tapped him on the shoulder, "Okay, but we definitely finish this later.  
  
"I'm counting on it," Tommy replied as he followed Billy from the hospital.  
  
*********************************************************  
  
Kimberly looked around the room and smiled to herself. Most of the surviving pre-Zeo Rangers were here- only Tanya and Aisha were missing. She couldn't help but notice that everyone had returned to their original colors, and felt a sense of loss at the lack of yellow in the room. She felt Adam's arm go around her waist, as she snuggled up to him. "So what's the game plan, Tommy?" he asked.  
  
Tommy just shrugged and indicated Billy, "Don't ask me, Billy's in charge."  
  
With and ease that surprised her, all the other Rangers turned to Billy without hesitation. There was a calm sense of competence that exuded from the blond, that seemed to reach out and envelop her. "So wolf-boy, what's the deal?" Rocky asked.  
  
Billy turned and his eyes flashed deep blue on blue momentarily, before he said, "I've discovered the identity of the assassin. I believe I know where he's hiding out, and I need your assistance in bringing him to justice."  
  
"You've got it, Bro," Jason commented his voice cold. Kim couldn't begin to grasp how he must feel- to have his identity stolen and then used in the assassination of one of his best friends. She too felt the deep sense of loss over Zack's death, and had to admit that she was feeling more than just a small need for vengeance, but what Jason was experiencing must be close to volcanic.  
  
Billy obviously sensed the pain his friend was feeling, crossed the room and put a gentle hand on the bigger man's shoulder. Quietly, he said something that Kim couldn't hear, and pressed something into Jason's hand, before turning back to the rest of them.  
  
"Justin Stewart stole some of the advance technology that he and Tommy stored for me. He used the confiscated cloning technology from the moon to clone Jason's body, and then employed the mind switching machine I invented to transfer his mind into that body. I think that he's also using the cloning technology to create these drones that have been attacking us." Turning to face Jason he said, "I also believe that he may have programmed certain enhancements into the body he cloned for himself, and I think they've mentally unbalanced him."  
  
"What kind of enhancements?" Jason asked. Then smiling to show that he wasn't totally absorbed by his anger he joked, "After all, how can you improve on perfection?"  
  
"I think he may have made himself even stronger and faster. He doesn't have access to the Turbo Power anymore, so he may have felt that he needed an edge against the former Rangers."  
  
"If we can access the Ninjetti Powers, why can't he access the Turbo Power?" Kim asked.  
  
Billy smiled at her. "The Ninjetti power was something we earned, and to which we were bonded," he tapped his head, "hence the spirit animals. The Turbo Powers were like the Zeo Powers, they were granted by an outside force that could be neutralized." He smiled over at Adam, Jason and Rocky, "much more easily than the Morphin' Powers, evidently. Once the Turbo Powers were neutralized, he no longer had access to something to which he found himself addicted." Looking over at Rocky he said gently, "I'm afraid, choosing a prepubescent candidate for the Turbo Powers created a craving inside his body for those powers."  
  
"How much of this is speculation, and how much do you have hard facts on?" Adam asked.  
  
Billy turned to him, "I'm positive that Justin's body is suffering from the effects of a mind switch that completely removed his personality. I'm certain that someone has cloned Jason's body, and is using it to commit these assassinations. I know that there are only three people alive on Earth with the technological expertise to be able to do this: Justin, me, and you." He smiled, "I'm sure I didn't do it, I'm sure that you didn't, so that leaves Justin."  
  
For long moments, Adam was silent as he considered Billy's words. Finally, he said, "Then what do we do?"  
  
"We go to the old Command Center neutralize him and turn him and the equipment over to the Master Warriors," Billy said.  
  
"How do we do that?" Rocky asked.  
  
Billy smiled and produced six communicators saying, "To borrow a line from Jason: **Back to Action!**"   
  



	15. No love greater

Kimberly strapped the communicator once again to her wrist and felt the old tingle of excitement flow through her body. It felt good to be part of the team again. She'd thought she'd long outgrown that longing, but it suddenly came rushing back, as her heart began to race. Adam looked over and gave her a knowing smile. She knew he was feeling something very similar as he said, "Ready to go Princess?"  
  
Grinning back at him, she replied, "Better believe it Frog-boy." As she looked around she saw the others stealing glances at each other, the excitement of being back in action apparent in all of their eyes. Leaning over she whispered next to him, "And I'm not the only one." She watched as Adam scanned the others as they too put on their communicators. She smiled to herself as he and Rocky exchanged quick winks just before their faces disappeared behind the Ninjetti masks.  
  
"What do you expect us to find there?" Jason asked untransformed. Briefly, Kimberly wondered if he was going along. He had no Ninjetti spirit animal to guide him- surely Billy didn't expect his closest friend since childhood to take on a Justin and his forces without any power.  
  
"Justin, in his mutated form definitely; beyond that, I'm not sure. I'm afraid this is not going to be sort of combat with which we're accustomed to dealing," the blond answered.  
  
"What do you mean?" Rocky asked nervously.   
  
"In the past, most of the monster's we've fought have been almost comical- something one would expect to see on a Saturday Morning kid's show if it were not for their seriousness. However, this is most likely going to be something truly terrifying. Justin has been manipulating the very building blocks of life. The results are very likely to be horrific."  
  
"What about Jason?" Tommy asked. "How do you expect for him to fight without any powers?"  
  
Billy smiled quietly to himself, "I tried to convince Jason to stay behind, but he refused. He has a right to be here, after all it is HIS body that's been cloned. He's promised to stay out of the fight, unless absolutely necessary."  
  
"Why do I get the feeling you're not telling us everything?" Tommy asked the former Ranger leader.  
  
"Would I do that to you?" Jason asked.  
  
"If you thought it would help us win, yes." Tommy replied.  
  
"I think I'm hurt," Jason said in mock indignation.  
  
"Will you two stop it? You're worse than …, " Kimberly almost said, 'Zack', but caught herself. " … you're worse than a couple of comedians." Her words caught the whole room by surprise. Everyone knew whom she meant, and they all felt the loss of the first Black Ranger. They were suddenly reminded of the seriousness of the business at hand.  
  
Finally, Billy broke the silence that had fallen over the gathering. "I think it's time we left." Looking over at Jason he asked, "Do you have what I gave you."  
  
Jason nodded and swallowed. Billy quickly nodded back, his gaze sweeping across the room to settle on each of them, briefly seeking affirmation. Kimberly felt herself nod quietly to those sea-green eyes as they seemed to bore into her soul. There was something about his gaze that instilled confidence. Finally, he looked up, said, "Let's go," and touched the activation stud on his communicator.  
  
*************************************************************  
  
Rocky felt the familiar sense of flying as the teleporter took them. An instant later, he felt his boots on solid stone as the world reformed around him. They were in one of the old labs of the Command Center. Looking around, Rocky could see where most of the equipment had been jury-rigged to operate in ways it was never intended. Huge conduits snaked across the cracked floor of the former base. The entire back wall was a collapsed pile of rubble with several steaming pipes running through it. To the left were several large masses of machinery with various pipes and conduits leading from them to different places in the wall. To his right were a series of what looked to Rocky like surgical tables complete with operating equipment. A vaguely recognizable voice came from behind him, "So the former Ninjetti Rangers think they can stop me?"  
  
Rocky spun around to see Jason standing behind them, wielding a wicked looking energy weapon. At least at first it looked like Jason- if you added about a hundred pounds of mass to him and a suit of scaled body armor the color of dried blood. "I was wondering how long it would take you to put the clues together." He turned and faced the blue-clad figure that was their leader and said, "I guess you're not as intelligent as I was led to believe."  
  
Rocky could see Billy's eyes smile behind the mask, as he replied, "Perhaps, but I am still in my own body, with my friends around me." He stepped back into a defensive stance. "You are alone. Alone as you've always been."  
  
The faux-Jason smiled, his elongated canines glistening with saliva.  
"I don't need anybody." Faster than Rocky's eye could follow, he lashed out with a vicious kick to Billy's stomach. The force of the blow was such that it picked up the Blue Ranger and slammed him across the room to crash into rubble.  
  
"What you need is a good spanking," Tommy said leaping toward his former charge, his body suddenly twisting. "Ninjetti corkscrew kick!"  
  
Rocky winced as the Justin swept the White Ranger aside with a frightening level of strength with his forearm. Turning to face the other Rangers Justin/Jason said, "You're not man enough to do it." Looking down at Tommy he said, "And to think that I used to look up to you."  
  
Without thought, Rocky found himself falling back into old habits, as he and Adam launched themselves simultaneously at the grinning form. "Up and over!" Adam yelled as he somersaulted over the taller man. Rocky dropped to a squat and swept his leg around.  
  
Anticipating the move, Justin did a quick flamenco step to avoid the sweep, and rolled with Adam's somersault to slam him into the ground. What he didn't anticipate however, was the quick series of powerful roundhouse kicks- each one punctuated with a word, "That's. My. Man. You're. Messing. With. Kid." followed by a devastating spinning back-kick with which Kimberly hit him.   
  
The force of the latter sent Justin reeling sideways into a waiting reverse punch from Jason. Coming out of her spin, Kimberly dropped back into a ready stance and grinned, "Still got it. Gotta' love it."  
  
"And you want to marry her?" Rocky asked of Adam as he regained his own composure. Adam just grinned and blushed.  
  
Blood pouring down his face from the force of Jason's punch, Justin swung a lightning fast backhand at the former Ranger leader who barely avoided the skull-smashing blow. "Don't know where you got the costumes, but you can't fool me." Spinning around he growled at Billy who was pulling himself from the pile of rubble. "I know for certain that you don't have any powers any more. Mondo destroyed them."  
  
Billy wiped the blood from his mouth and looked down. "And you call yourself a scientist. You should know that energy can neither be created nor destroyed." Nodding over to Jason, he said, "I think it's time Jase."  
  
Suddenly turning to face the former Ranger leader Justin found himself tackled and slammed backwards by a leap from Billy. Justin brought both fists together and smashed them into Billy's shoulders, driving his face into the waiting knee.   
  
Grunting in pain as the rough scales of the armor ripped at his face, Billy dropped something from his sleeve and drove it forward into the bigger man's groin. As the head of the short staff slammed home, Justin howled in pain. Billy rocked forward pulling his body upward, blood pouring from gashes in his face, until he was face to face with bigger man. "The Ninjetti power never left us." Reaching around behind Justin with the staff, Billy grasped both ends and brought it down into the small of Justin's back. "Some of us have just had access to it longer."   
  
Howling in pain, Justin once again smashed both fists into Billy's back. There was dull thud as the blue-clad Ranger was driven further into the scales of Justin's armor, throwing both men off balance.  
  
Rocky watched as Jason grinned and said, "It's Morphin' time!" Reaching behind his back he held something out- something Rocky only dreamed of ever seeing again- and called, "Tyrannosaur!" In a flash of light, Jason Scott was gone, and in his place was the Red Ranger.  
  
Hurling Billy's limp body away from him, Justin screamed, "No! I will not lose to you. I'm better than… … …" What ever else he was going to say was cut off as Tommy's foot slammed into his mouth.  
  
"I'm going to take you apart piece by piece." Tommy growled a dark fire in his brown eyes. "I'm going to rip you to shreds with my bare hands, and feed the pieces to the Ravens." There was a darkness in his eyes that was frightening. Rocky understood that it was primarily his desire to protect Billy, but it still sounded chilling.  
  
Shaking his head in confusion, Justin muttered, "Too many Rangers, must power up," as Jason's tornado kick whipped around and drove him into one of the larger pieces of machinery. Electricity suddenly arced across the console and a shower of sparks hid Justin from their eyes, as he screamed in agony.  
  
Rocky shielded his eyes from the blast as he glanced over to where Tommy was helping the fallen Billy to his feet. The young genius was rolling his shoulder, as if to determine if it were broken or not. Rocky winced inwardly at the memories of his own injuries that led to Justin becoming a Power Ranger.   
  
"You okay, Rocko?" Adam asked as he too helped Billy to his feet. Rocky watched in what seemed to be slow motion as a scale-armored tentacle suddenly lashed out from where Justin was engulfed in electricity toward Adam. Without thinking, he lunged forward pushing the other three Rangers to the floor, only to be caught square in the back. There was a sudden sense of motion, and then an explosion of light and pain. Before the darkness mercifully took him, Rocky felt something in his back shatter like glass.  
  
  
Billy watched in horror as his friend was slammed into the far wall. He heard the sickening sound of bones shattering and organs erupting, just before Rocky slid down the wall, leaving an oily streak of blood and bile behind him. Somewhere, some part of his mind screamed in frustration, but he viciously cut that part off and concentrated on the task at hand.  
  
Looking over he could see where the electricity from shattered conduit was super charging Justin's genetic modifications. Some part of his mind registered that he must have included some sort of bio-electrical enhancements in the design, and that the overload of electricity was short circuiting his control of them. Before anyone could react, Justin screamed as he went from red, to orange, to yellow, to white. Suddenly his body contracted into a black and caramel colored goo that bubbled for just an instant before it exploded violently outward.   
  
The whole room rocked from the explosion and huge chunks of ceiling began to fall. A large crack began to cut its way across the room with rifle-shot-like reports. Billy ducked his head to avoid being splattered by what was left of Justin, as he dodged and leaped several large boulders to land by Rocky. Turning to face the others, he yelled, "Teleport back to Tommy's!" as he hit the emergency stud on Rocky's and his communicators. Softly he told his team mate, "Hang in there buddy."  
  
**************************************************  
  
EPILOG  
  
Tommy sat quietly with his legs pulled up under his chin watching the sun dip over the horizon of the Pacific Ocean. It had been a rough couple of months, and he found himself in need of some quiet time to absorb it all. There were some high points there, but a couple of really scary low ones too. It was as if he was a Ranger again, and somehow that bothered him. He'd always suspected that he'd gotten into racing in a subconscious attempt to recapture the adrenaline high of fighting Rita and Zed's monsters. Now he began to understand that maybe he'd been wrong. Almost losing Rocky had shocked him back to reality. This wasn't a game anymore, it was something that had to be done. He'd lost his teenager's sense of invulnerability, and finally come of age. For some reason, that brought his spirit to a peace he'd not expected.   
  
"Penny for your thoughts?" a welcome feminine voice asked as a shadow passed between him and the sun.  
  
Looking up, he saw Kimberly's petit silhouette outlined with the blazing corona of the setting sun. Smiling at her, he said, "'S that all they're worth?"  
  
Turning and sitting next to him, she replied, "It's all I can afford right now. Weddings aren't exactly cheap these days, you know."  
  
Tommy chuckled. He'd heard that the upcoming Park/Hart wedding was taking on a life of its own. Smiling at the former Pink Ranger he said, "I was just thinking about the past few months since Billy returned from Phaedos."  
  
"Good thoughts I hope," Kim ventured carefully.  
  
Tommy smiled, "Where Billy's concerned, yes. Other's not so much. It's hard to think about Rocky being hurt in a good light."  
  
Kim patted his hand, "I know what you mean." Taking a deep breath, she smiled and watched the setting sun for a few moments before replying. "But he's going to be all right. It's a long road ahead of him, but I think that before long, he'll be up and around again." Turning to face him she continued, "He was the real hero of that fight I think. He sacrificed himself to save you, Billy, and Adam."  
  
Tommy let his thoughts drift to his old Red Ranger friend, and couldn't help but realize that Kim was right. Right after the mission to Phaedos, he'd told that Fred Gillman that he'd shown true bravery, and had been right. What Rocky had done went head and shoulders beyond that. He'd really put his life on the line to save his friends. That was a debt that he couldn't easily repay. "I know, Kim. I'm not sure how to thank him."  
  
Kim patted his arm, "He doesn't want any thanks, Tommy. He did it out of love. You would have done the same for him. We know Billy would too, he's done it before." She leaned back against the rock as the setting sun slowly dipped below the Western Pacific, "I guess I'm fated to be surrounded by brave men who are willing to give their lives for each other."  
  
"Speaking of brave men: has Jason got the situation with the police cleared up yet?"  
  
Kim nodded, "Yeah. It helped to have the Red Ranger come to his aid."  
  
"I'll bet." Tommy smiled at the idea of his best friend running a schizophrenic conversation with the police as both the Red Ranger and Detective Jason Scott. "What about Justin?"  
  
"Billy said that his mind was completely wiped. He can and will be re-educated. It's going to be a long fight though. His brain doesn't learn as quickly as it did when he was a child. It seems that although he was a Doogie Howzer in the past, he's going to be just a little slow from now on."  
  
"Flowers for Algernon," Tommy said.  
  
"Huh?" Kim asked.  
  
"It's a book about a mentally challenged man who becomes a genius for a while but is forced to go back to being mentally challenged. Mrs. Appleby had me read it in my senior year. Very good story."  
  
Kim smiled at him. "I'll have to look it up."  
  
"Do that."  
  
For long moments, they sat there watching the evening stars slowly appear over the ocean. Finally, Kim broke the silence again, "How're things with you and Billy?"  
  
Tommy smiled and thought of the golden haired scientist who'd suddenly returned to his life to cause so much chaos. He sighed and leaned back, "I don't think I've ever been happier in my life. It's funny, Billy and I should never have even been friends- we really didn't have much in common outside of Rangering- but now we're so much more."   
  
Kim chuckled at his side, "I know. If you were going to pair off with anyone based on things you had in common, I would have thought it would've been Jason."  
  
Tommy laughed and said, "Not in this lifetime. That boy is so straight, it makes my hair hurt."  
  
The two once again shared a quiet moment, not needing to talk. Their old relationship, now morphed into something sweet and mellow- a change brought about the honesty they'd been able to share of late- didn't need words to communicate the deep bond between them. "Have you told your folks yet?"  
  
Tommy turned to her and smiled, "Mom and Dad are happy for us."  
  
"I always did think you're parents were a class act."  
  
"Yeah."  
  
"How about you're pit crew? You planning on having Billy in the Winner's Circle with you after you take Talladega this year?" Kim asked.  
  
"My crew knows." Tommy smiled at her. "Billy's already made several adjustments to the Pontiac that's shaved several seconds off my starting time, and the new handling is awesome. After that, they don't seem to have a problem with us being a couple. It's strange, I guess all those months being a grease-monkey for the 'Zords transferred over to working with my pit-crew amazingly well."  
  
"That's Billy for you. Give him something to build, modify, or repair and he's happy." She stopped and looked at him, "Making it something for you makes it that much more important to him."  
  
Tommy smiled, remembering his thoughts last night as he lay awake, Billy sleeping quietly curled next him in bed. The love he felt from Billy seemed so right, so complete. He'd realized that it was so Tommy-centric that he'd have to be careful not to come to take it for granted. "I know. I have to be careful with that too. He's so giving, that sometimes I'm afraid I may take more than I give."  
  
Kim smiled over at him, her eyes sparkling in the starlight. "I'm glad to hear you say that Tommy." Her voice suddenly became serious, "I want you to be happy- both of you. But if you ever take him for granted or hurt him, I'm going to kick your white-falcon butt."  
  
Tommy smiled at her, "I hope so, Kim. I hope so."  
  
  



End file.
